Ghosts equal to BOYFRIEND STEALERS
by PisceanGirlPower
Summary: Ch 22 UP! Olivia de Silva & Jason Slater are BFFs who secretly love each other. There's a hot new ghost in the scene, and Olivia thinks Jason loves her. What will happen ultimately? Will they end up together or will the ghost succeed in ruining their love
1. Titanic, Popcorn & Pizza

_**Hi guys**_

**_Well, the sequel to HAUNTED A.K.A. TOTALLY BUGGED is finally out!! Mind you…I took loads of time to sit and device a new plotline and I've worked super-hard on GHOSTS BOYFRIEND-STEALERS. So, if you guys don't review, I will certainly _not_ update. So…if you want me to update, you know which button to press._**

_**I would like to thank ANGEL-BY-DAY.DEVIL-BY-NIGHT for helping me out with this story…thanks for helping me Laura, this story wouldn't be possible without you.**_

_**--PGP**_

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_**CHAPTER ONE**_

_**TITANIC, POPCORN & PIZZA **_

**Olivia's POV**

You know what, I'm a freak. In a nice way. Okay…I'll just let you judge on your own my definition of a freak-in-a-nice way – a nearly-sixteen-year-old cheerleader who can see ghosts and speak to them (a 'gift' inherited from both parents). Convinced?

Okay…let me give you a more conventional introduction of me. My name is Olivia de Silva (I'm proud of my surname…I get it from my dad's Spanish roots). I'm fifteen (going to be sixteen in a week), I go to the Junipero Serra Mission Academy and am in the eleventh grade. But that's all usual stuff. What's special about me is that I have a 'gift' of being a mediator – a person who can see ghosts, speak to them and touch them, and is supposed to help them to figure out what's keeping them from moving on to where they are supposed to. Notice that I've put the word gift in inverted commas. That's because different mediators look at it in different ways. Like my dad thinks it is a gift to be able to help dead people, whereas my mom thinks it's just a major pain in the neck with hardly any plus-points (although I don't know how she can say this even when her being a mediator was the cause of Dad and Mom _meeting_ in the first place). I don't know who I agree with more, Mom or Dad. It's just totally confusing. I guess both of them have their points.

I know that I should have my opinions sorted out by now and stuff since I've been a mediator for sixteen years and yadda yadda yadda, but it's not half as easy as it sounds, seriously. It takes a lot of maturity.

And okay, I'm sounding like a major grandma, but I don't care.

Anyway, I'll tell you about my social life (not care much for it, but whatever). My best pal's name is Jason Slater and he's exactly two and a half months elder to me – my birthday's on 18th April and his is on 3rd February. Jason is a mediator, too.

We've have been best friends since, like, I don't even remember how long. Circa since we roamed around in nappies, I think. This is because his dad Mr. Slater and my mom Susannah de Silva née Simon were friends in school, and so our parents are, like, totally tight friends.

Back to my social life. I'm a cheerleader at school (boy, did Mom give off steam or what when I told her that I'd tried for the squad and made it. Apparently something to do with a former schoolmate named Kelly Prescott). The captain of the squad, to be more precise. Jason is quarterback on the school football team. I know what you're thinking: "Jeez, that is, like, _so_ totally cliché." But whatever. I can't help it now, can I? And cliché of all clichés – I'm majorly in love with Jason. We hang out so much – just like a cheerleader would with a female best friend, except, duh, for all the lip gloss and fashion talk – yet I can't tell if Jason likes me in that special way or not. I mean, sometimes he acts like there's definitely something brewing, and other times he acts as if we're total buddies. I mean, I know we're buddies, but still. It would be nice if he could give me a definite signal

Jason is basically every girl's only fantasy at school. He's your classic quarterback – six feet tall, blonde hair, great body (his six-pack is just…), hot. But the thing about him is that even though he's hot and a quarterback (a.k.a. lethal combination), Jason's totally down-to-earth and smart. He isn't like the typical quarterback at all when it comes to nature, behavior and personality – he's sweet, courteous, totally not judgmental, not arrogant, and most surprising, a brainiac. Seriously, he gets, like, A-pluses on every single report and test he gives. I, on the other hand, am not the typical cheerleading captain, either. Although I'm not Miss Straight-A, I always manage to get at least a B or a B-plus. _And_ I'm not snooty and stuck up. Honest.

Okay, I think you might find it confusing to read information in the format I'm giving you, so here…

_Name:_ **Olivia de Silva**

_Age:_ **15 years and 357 days**

_Date of birth:_ **18****th**** April**

_Zodiac Sign:_ **Aries**

_Height:_ **5 feet 5 ½ inches**

_Appearance:_ **Tall, slender and slim. Natural tan complexion, Spanish features, nice nose. Jet-black, wavy, shoulder-length hair.**

Jason's POV 

Hi, I'm Jason Slater and I'm sixteen. I'm six feet tall, blonde and athletic, i.e. school quarterback. I'm head-over-heels in love with my best-friend-since-Diaper Times, Olivia de Silva. I mean…who _wouldn't _be in love with a girl like Olivia (I know Hunter Marten, our halfback, is)? She's nothing short of perfect – beautiful, sweet, smart, intelligent, down-to-earth, charitable, friendly… What more could a guy ask for?

I keep trying to confess my feelings to Ol, but I always end up chickening out. I mean, what if she doesn't like me (although I could swear what I saw in her eyes was burning jealousy when I told her about my first girlfriend when I was fourteen)? Then our friendship will be ruined. Seriously…I don't think I could handle being rejected by Olivia.

Anyway…Let me tell you a bit about me. I'm a mediator – a person who can see, touch and speak to ghosts. The job of a mediator is to help ghosts move on. Olivia's a mediator, too (that's another thing that would guarantee us being the perfect couple). Both of us are mediators since our parents our, too. Our parents are totally tight pals. Dad and Mrs. de Silva, and Dr. de Silva, in a way (although he wasn't in school with them), go back to school times.

_16__th__ April_,_ Thursday night_

Olivia's POV 

When I returned from cheerleading practice, I, to my intense horror, realized that I was supposed to be over at Jas's house for a movie at seven, and it was already six thirty.

I crashed into the shower and had the quickest shower of my life. Glancing at the digital clock on my bedside every two seconds, I hurriedly pulled on my favorite pair of dark blue Pepe jeans and a white three-quarter sleeved cotton shirt. Nearly falling over in my hurry, I pushed my feet into my Manolo Blahnik suede boots and fixed my hair as I ran down the stairs. "Bye Mom, bye Dad," I cried, tearing past Mom, who was reading this month's _Vogue_, and Dad, who was working on his laptop. "Bye sweetie," muttered Mom. "Olivia!" called Dad, just as I stepped foot out of the door. "Yes Dad?" I said, going back inside, chewing my lip. It was already six fifty. "Where are you off to?" "Jason's place, Daddy." "All right. What time will you be back?" "Curfew time, Dad," I said, rolling my eyes. "Which is?" Oh man. This is an everyday affair. "Eleven." "All right. Take care. Goodbye." "Bye Daddy." I said, leaning in and giving Dad a quick peck on the cheek.

I rushed out of the door and unlocked my midnight blue Chevrolette convertible and hopped into it. (P.S.: Although I have a car and a learner's license, Dad's forbidden me to drive for more than a distance of two miles after a certain incident involving trees and cars.) Jason's place is about a five-minute drive away from my house, so I reached there pretty fast. I parked it in the Slaters' driveway (which has space for four cars – they have a huge house, too), glanced at Jas's silver BMW, gave my hair one last pat, and then rang the doorbell. Mrs. Slater opened the door. "Oh, hello dear!" she said. "Come in. Jason's in his room. You can go right up." "Hi Mrs. S," I replied. "Thanks." I removed my boots and put them in the shoestand by the door. The Slaters have a weird custom that anyone in the house is not allowed to wear the same footwear they wear outside. Mrs. Slater went into the study-room, where I assume she was before I came in.

I ran up the stairs and burst into Jason's room. He has posters of bands like U2, Blink 182, Destiny's Child and Linkin Park plastered all over the wall the head of his four-poster bed is against. Seriously, that is the one wall which has about two-hundred posters plastered all over it, overlapping each other several times, but every single other wall is completely poster-free. But that's Jason for you – weird. Jason's room is _never_ clean, just like mine. Both of us like to keep our rooms totally untidy.

Right now, Jas's room had dirty socks, tees and jeans littered everywhere, which is actually nothing new at all. He was sitting shirtless at his study table, listening to his iPod and doing his homework. That's another unusual thing about him. Jason always faithfully does his homework and fully. For a second, Jas's six-pack and chiseled features practically made my blood freeze.

I quickly shook off my fascination of Jas's appendages from my mind and crept up behind him and put my fingers over his eyes, making his earphones fall out of his ears. "Hi Ol," he said, automatically, catching hold of my hands and removing them. That's our usual form of welcome for each other – putting our fingers over each other's eyes. I looked back at me. "You're looking good today," he said. "Really?" I said, grinning and trying not to blush. "Thanks."

"Hey," I said, peering into his Geometry homework. We're in the same Geometry class. "Did you actually figure out that problem? It beats me." "Really?" said Jason, looking surprised. "It's pretty easy! Sister Loretta explained it pretty clearly. Look, you look at the hypotenuse of ––" "Jas," I interrupted him, laughing. "It's okay! I know the problem. I was pulling your leg." "Really." "_Yes_. Anyway. Which movie do you have for us tonight?" "Um," said Jason. "Nothing in particular. You can choose." See, that's another thing about Jason. Normally, no guy would let a _girl_ choose the movie. _Star Wars_ would probably be the immediate thing to be popped into the DVD player. But not Jason. He always lets me choose. Once he even watched _The Devil Wears Prada_ with me without a word of complaint (okay, I agree that Anne Hathaway's hot in it and all, but still. She has a live-in boyfriend in the movie who she regularly hooks up with).

"Okay," I said. "Hope the popcorn's ready, though?" "Duh," said Jason. "Popcorn's in the kitchen, all popped. Pizza ordered. Extra peppers, just like you like it." "Just like _we_ like it, you mean," I said. "Yeah," said Jason. "You go to the theater room and pick a DVD. I'll throw on a shirt and be there in two." "'Kay," I said. "Come soon."

I ran down the stairs and turned right from there. The Slaters have a huge home-theater room – it must be bigger than two of my bedrooms put together. I'm pretty used to it now, because pop over for movies so often. I did inky-pinky-ponky between the seven CD folders crammed with DVDs and picked out one. I flicked through it.

_Star Wars_,_ The Empire Strikes Back_,_ Return of the Jedi_,_ Revenge of the Sith_,_ The Phantom Menace_…basically every Star Wars title made by George Lucas. I made Jason buy them all so I could drool over Hayden Christensen, the guy who plays the elder Anakin Skywalker, and I _know_ that the only reason he so willingly agreed to my demand was so he could look at Natalie Portman, who plays Senator Padmé Amidala (I'm sure you know all this stuff). Then there was a lot more…_The Exorcism of Emily Rose_,_ James Bond: Casino Royale_,_ Die Hard_,_ The Cat In The Hat_,_ Freaky Friday _(one of my favorite movies), _The Republican_,_ Ben Hur_, _Gone With The Wind _(no comment),_ The Sound of Music _(no comment again), _After Sunset_ (Pierce Brosnan),_ Bring It On: All Or Nothing _(the one with Hayden Panettiere and Solange Knowles, Beyoncé's younger sister in it), _American Kids_,_ Titanic_…

I stopped at _Titanic_. I'd sorta been wanting to see this movie. Again. But then _Titanic_ is something you can watch about fifty times at the least. I took it out and popped it into the DVD player. Just as I pressed pause on the remote, Jas walked in with a gigantic tub of popcorn under one arm and a tray with two cans of soda in it. Coke for him, Diet Dr. Pepper for me. He always knows what I want.

"I decided on _Titanic_," I said to him, as he put the popcorn on the table, handed me my soda, and plopped down on the couch next to me. "In the mood for a tragedy, eh?" asked Jas, with a twinkle in his eye. "Yeah," I said. "I guess."

Jason pressed play on the remote after we settled down with the popcorn and sodas.

Jason's POV _Forty-five minutes later__…_

The movie was great so far, and what made it greater was the fact that I got to cuddle up to Olivia. The movie was already getting to be quite sad, and Olivia is quite emotional, so she was giving big baby sobs. I thought she'd feel embarrassed later on, but it was okay. I was providing her with enough Kleenex, so this wouldn't turn into a snotty incident.

After about forty-five minutes into the movie, Mom called out to me that our pizza had come. So Olivia paused the movie and I went to the door and paid the pizza guy and got the pizza. The bill was $ 17.95 (not that I cared, but whatever).

I took the pizza from the delivery guy and took it to the theater room. We hogged on the entire pizza (extra-large pie) between the two of us. That's a thing about Olivia – she isn't like the other cheerleaders, going "Ohmigod!! Did you know that a single slice of pizza contains, like, a HUNDRED calories! I am _so_ not touching it." She just eats whatever there is. In fact, she is a junk food freak, just like me. She's probably the only cheerleader who doesn't go around asking for a lunch of a cracker and a watercress leaf.

Anyway, we finished the pizza, and the movie too. The movie _was_ pretty intriguing for a romance. Olivia seriously went crazy with the Kleenex. I think she used up the entire packet (the large one). Whenever an EXTRA sad scene came, she would put her head on my shoulder and go, "Jason! Oh my gosh…that is so…SAD! (Tears)" But I didn't mind in the least. You know why.

Olivia's POV Monday morning… 

My alarm clock went off for the second time at six thirty. Crap. I had to get up fifteen minutes early to wash my hair. Great, now I'll have to go to school with my hair looking like an oil dump.

I grunted, turned over in bed a shut my alarm. That was it. I knew I had to get up, or I'd miss Assembly and get pulled up by bugging Sister Ernestine (When I told Mom about her, she gave a snort and murmured under her breath, "Oh. So that old fart-bucket is still teaching there, huh?" A/N: LOL!)

I tried to pry open my eyes by blinking them open and shut. After groggily having a shower, I pulled on a pair of white Capri pants and a hot pink top, paired with white Jimmy Choos (Mom hates them because they're Jimmy Choos…God knows why A/N: Wink, wink! If you've read the 5th book Haunted, you'll know!). I looked at my watch. Seven-fifteen. Just in time to have breakfast and then for Jason to pick me up.

I went down, swaying about sleepily. I knew I should have left from Jason's a little earlier. "Good morning Olivia," said Dad cheerfully, making pancakes. Mom was still asleep, as usual. "Morning, Dad," I said, giving a huge yawn. "Pancakes smell good." I bet Dad's tired of hearing that from Mom and me, but what to do…his pancakes really _are_ heavenly. His secret is that he always mixes chocolate sauce in the batter.

"_Nombre de Dios,_ Olivia," he said. "What happened to you? You look like you haven't slept in a week." I yawned again. "Sí, Daddy," I said. "I guess I didn't get enough sleep last night." "You didn't break your curfew, did you?" said Dad, suspiciously. "Gee Dad," I said impatiently. "I _didn't_, okay? I was in _before_ curfew if you must know." "All right, but that is no way to talk to your father. Apologize right now." That's one annoying trait in my dad. Since he's a nineteenth century dude, he has some major manner issues which bug even Mom sometimes. So please do not find it odd that he doesn't sit down until Mom does, and stands up when she does and stuff. There's another whole bunch of such manners that I do not wish to bore you with. It's actually a wonder that he lets me roam around and hang out with Jason so freely and doesn't tell me "It's unethical for a young woman your age to have so much contact with a young man you are not related to." But I guess Mom's managed to drum into his mind 1 per cent of the fact that this is the TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY and NOT the nineteenth. But you can still see that he's pretty disgusted with the way we twenty-first-centuriers behave with so much liberty. Like that day, I saw him reading about a guy who broke into this 80-year-old woman's place and tied her up before robbing all her stuff. He was muttering "What? Only a ten year prison sentence? This man should be horsewhipped and hanged."

"I'm sorry, Dad," I said, sulking. "It's okay," he said, handing me the dripping-with-Hershey-chocolate-sauce-pancakes in a plate. "Yum," I said, before descending on the pancakes. They were superb, but what's new? Everything Dad cooks _is_ superb-uh-licious. I got up and got the carton of OJ from the fridge and poured myself a glass.

When about half my pancake was still left, the doorbell rang. _Crap,_ I thought. _Jason's already here._ I made an effort to hurry up and gobble up the pancakes, but to no avail. The pancake was just too big to do that. So, instead, I drained my glass of OJ quickly. Dad opened the door.

"Oh, hello Jason. Good morning," I heard Dad saying. "Olivia," he called out to me. "Jason's here. Hurry up and eat your breakfast quickly!" "Yeah, Dad," I replied, in between a mouthful of pancake. Jason walked in. "Hi sleepyhead," he said, when I looked up and said hi. Then his gaze went down to my plate. "Ooh," he said. "Your pancakes, sir!" he said to Dad. "Dee-ee-licious!" Dad laughed. "Would you like one?" "Oh, no thanks, sir," he said, rubbing his stomach. "I just ate a load of bacon and eggs!" "All right, then," said Dad. "Olivia," he scolded me. "Hurry up. You're going to be late for school. How similar to your mother you are!" I laughed, swallowing the last bite of my pancake. "That's about the _zillionth_ time you're telling me that Daddy dear," I said, giving Dad a peck on the cheek. "Anyway, bye. I'll see you later!" "Goodbye children," said Dad.

Jason's POV 

"So," I said, as Olivia and I got into my silver BMW. "How come you got late today?" I started the ignition. "Oh," said Olivia. "I, um, overslept." "Figures," I commented. "Huh?" "Your eyes. They look like you haven't slept in a week." "That's exactly what Dad said." "Oh."

We drove the rest of the way to school listening to a McFly CD and chatting about school. Suddenly, as I stopped for a red light, I heard a little sniffle from the backseat. I guess Olivia heard it too, since we both whirled around to see.

There it was, plain as day, a ghost girl sitting in the backseat, sobbing. She had long silky blonde hair, halfway down her back, and a short red party dress, and must have been around nineteen or twenty. She was quite pretty, but nothing compared to Olivia, of course. "Um," said Olivia, apparently thinking of something to say. "Hey?" But the girl was still sobbing. After a couple of seconds, though, she finally looked up with bloodshot, tear-filled eyes. I noticed they were an unusual bluish-green color. "H…Hi," she said in a watery voice. "Can you see me?" "Yes," said Olivia. "We're both mediators, people who help dead people to move on to their next lives. "Oh," she said, looking confused. "I'm…my name's Andrea." I heard the driver behind me honking furiously. Oops, green light. I looked in front and accelerated.

Olivia was still talking to Andrea. "Hey," she said, again. "Did you just die?" "Olivia!" I hissed, giving her poke. Olivia has a nasty habit of being too upfront sometimes. Not a good quality for a mediator – ghosts tend to dislike it. But surprisingly, Andrea calmly said, "Yeah. How did you know?" "I'm a mediator," Olivia reminded her. "Since sixteen years. I can recognize a new ghost when I see one. And they're mostly upset. About dying, I mean." I rolled my eyes. Olivia was going to nearly get creamed by a ghost sooner or later if she didn't watch it. Nearly, because _I_ would cream the _ghost_ before that, obviously. Unexpectedly, Andrea surprised me with her answer again. "Okay."

Olivia's POV 

"Soo…" I said, trying to get Andrea to speak more than one word at a time. "Do you want our help?" She looked at me severely. "Well, why the hell do you think I'm here, you moron?" Okay. She didn't need to be so rude. "Okay! Chill!" I said. "Ol," said Jason. I looked at him. "Yeah?" "We've reached school." That's when I noticed we'd reached school. "Look," I turned back to Andrea again. "We've got to go to school right now. But I'll call you after school. You can come then." "Hello." Andrea gave a huge eye-roll. "Ghosts _do not_ have _phones_? You're so dumb. I seriously cannot believe you call yourself a mediator or whatever it is." "Um," I said, surprised and taken aback at Andrea's sudden animosity and attitude. "I'm not talking about phones, Andrea. You might not know right now, but when a mediator thinks of a ghost strongly enough, the ghost gets the call. You'll know when I call. Now go away." Andrea's eyes gave another loop-the-loop. "Whatever. Bye." Saying this, she shimmered and vanished.

Jason's POV 

After Andrea dematerialized, I parked my car and we both got out.

As we walked to school, Olivia said to me, with a hint of anger in her voice, "Seriously, you know, Jas. I'm tired of being treated like shit by these ghosts. I'm tired of being a mediator! I'm gonna speak to Father D." I laughed. "Jas!" she cried. "I'm serious! I'm going to speak to Father D!" "Okay, okay," I said. "But you know exactly what his reaction is going to be – 'Olivia de Silva, this is a given to you by God. Use it rightfully and help the spirits –' " " –move on to their heavenly abode.' " finished Olivia. We both laughed. "But how does _he_ know that they go to heaven? They might be going to another life, or to hell, to suffer for their misdeeds!" "You know what he means," I said. "Yeah. Whatever."

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Helloo… 

_**I made this chapter extra-long as it is the first, so do not get your hopes up of having such a long chapter every time.**_

_**OK guys, I had put in PRETTY WOMAN as the sad story initially, seeing as I hadn't watched it myself. But I got the DVD & saw it…and felt like a fool putting it in as a sad movie. So I changed it to TITANIC…which I assure you I have seen.**_

_**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and if you want s'more, then I recommend you press that little lavender-colored button down there, type out your review & send it to me.**_

_**Adios until then…**_

_**--PGP**_


	2. Andrea's Identity

_**Hi guys,**_

_**Up…here's the second chapter!! I'd like to know what you guys are thinking of Ghosts Boyfriend-Stealers so far…so come on…be good readers and review!!!**_

_**R&R,**_

_** PGP**_

_**We left off at:**_

Jason's POV 

As we walked to school, Olivia said to me, with a hint of anger in her voice, "Seriously, you know, Jas. I'm tired of being treated like shit by these ghosts. I'm tired of being a mediator! I'm gonna speak to Father D." I laughed. "Jas!" she cried. "I'm serious! I'm going to speak to Father D!" "Okay, okay," I said. "But you know exactly what his reaction is going to be – 'Olivia de Silva, this is a given to you by God. Use it rightfully and help the spirits –' " " –move on to their heavenly abode.' " finished Olivia. We both laughed. "But how does _he_ know that they go to heaven? They might be going to another life, or to hell, to suffer for their misdeeds!" "You know what he means," I said. "Yeah. Whatever."

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_CHAPTER TWO_

_**ANDREA'S IDENTITY**_

Jason's POV 

As we walked into school, we realized that we were late for Assembly. Again. Father Dom's seriously going to get us one of these days. Just as Olivia and I tried to sneak into the eleventh grade line, Sister Ernestine came stalking up to us. Shit. "Mr. Slater, Miss de Silva. This is the third time you both are late to school this week. You will report to Father Dominic and stay back for detention one hour after school." Well, it's a good thing she told us to get to Father Dom. We'd just get to tell him about Andrea faster.

Olivia's POV 

We both entered Father D's office and settled ourselves down on our usual seats across his desk. He looked up at us and sighed. "Hello children," he said. "What today?" "We're late, Father," I said. "But it's not our fault!" "And why's that, Olivia?" asked Father D, tiredly. "Because a ghost popped up in the back of Jason's car when we were about to get off!" This caused Father D's eyes to spring wide open and to make him sit up straight to listen to us with rapt attention. "What is this ghost's name?" he asked, eagerly. "Um," said Jason, noticing Father D's sudden attention, too. "Andrea."

Father D's eyes shot open even wider. They got so wide, I was afraid they'd shoot straight out of his head. "Andrea? Do you mean Andrea Titian?" "Uh, her hair's blonde, not titian, Father, if that's what you mean," I said, tossing my head sideways so my curls fell on my face on one side. "No, no," said Father Dom impatiently. "Jason, is this ghost's surname Titian?" "Um, we don't know, Father," replied Jason. "We just know her first name. But who _is_ she?"

"Well," said Father Dom. "If she's really Andrea Titian – which I think she is – then she is the granddaughter of the owner of The Diner, a restaurant in Carmel, if you know it. It's supposed to be the most expensive eatery in Carmel." I rolled my eyes. _Everybody_ knows The Diner. It was where Dad proposed to Mom. It's also the place where the school government ALWAYS tries to hold the prom, but I don't know how they expect to do that when the rental of the Senate Hall there costs $6,000 and their annual budget is $6,500. "Yeah, Father, we know. Go on," said Jason. "Yes, so she is the granddaughter of Mr. Lorenzo Titian, the owner of The Diner. She recently died at a party." So that explained her flashy red dress. "It was a party with alcohol and young people and no parents," Father D continued disgustedly. "And a young boy at that party had too much to drink and shot Andrea. She could have survived if they had got her to a hospital on time, but since it was an illegal party, the children were afraid of calling the ambulance since they obviously knew that the police would get involved as well. So Andrea passed away." I grimaced. That wasn't a very nice way to die. And not the most respectful, either.

"So," said Jason. "I'm guessing that Andrea's killer is absconding and we will have to get him and help Andrea to move on. Right?" "Yes," said Father D, nodding. "That was an intelligent perception, Jason." "Thank you, Father. Should we go now? Olivia and I have Biology." "All right. But I would like to meet the two of you after school." "Yes, sir," we sighed. "We have detention." Father Dom laughed. "I'm canceling your detention. Just meet me in my office for ten minutes. I'm sure your parents won't mind." "But Father," I said. "We asked Andrea to come to us after school!" "Oh, is that it? You can call her to my office. That way I'll be able to meet her, too." "Okay Father. Bye." Saying this, we went off for Biology class.

After school at Father Dominic's office… 

"Hello, Miss Titian," said Father Dom confidently, when Andrea appeared in front of us at my calling her. She looked surprised. "Who are you? How do you know me?" she asked Father D. "There was an entire article about your tragedy in the newspaper, Miss Titian." "WHAT!" she cried angrily. "AAAAAGGGHHH!!!!" she roared, making a paperweight on Father D's table fly in the air and smashing it against the floor. "Those bastards!" This eight-letter word made Father Dom go purple.

"Miss Titian!" he cried. "You are in a school! Please check your behavior and language!" Not a good move. She turned to Father D. "And who are _you_?" she snarled. "I am Father Dominic. Andrea, calm down. We are not your enemies. We are here to help you." This made Andrea's face soften a little, but she was scowling. I guess switching from 'Miss Titian' to 'Andrea' helped a little. "How? How will you help me? Are you a mediator like these two?" she asked Father Dom suspiciously. "How else do you think I'm talking to you, Andrea?" he said, smiling warmly. That's the thing with Father Dom. I've never seen him angry. Even Mom says that she finds it infuriating sometimes how he's able to keep his cool in such situations.

Andrea's scowl had disappeared, but she wasn't smiling either. Her face was a picture of a suspicious blankness. She inhaled a deep lungful of air. "All right. So what in the world am I supposed to _do_, now that I'm dead? Just hang around here forever like this?" "No, Andrea," explained Father D. "We will help you to catch the boy who killed you, and as far as cases are normally concerned, your spirit should get peace after that, and you'll be able to move on." At this, Andrea turned to me and raised her eyebrows. "What's does the good father mean by…'move on'?" she asked. Now don't ask me why she asked _me_ that and not Father D. Anyway, I just explained it to her. "Moving on means that when all you wanted to do in this world is completed, then you can go wherever you're destined to go next. It can be anything – a new life, heaven…wherever you're destined to go. We don't know what."

"Hmm," said Andrea. "Sounds interesting." "Yeah."

Jason's POV 

After Olivia explained to Andrea the meaning of moving on, there was a long silence. "Um," I said. "Hate to say this, Father D, but we really must be going. It's really late and we have a lot of homework to do." "Of course," said Father D. "I understand. You may leave."

So we left for home. "And I thought the next week was going to be boring," mumbled Olivia, as we stepped into the car. "What?" I asked. "I said," said Olivia. "that I thought that the next week was going to be boring. You see how wrong I was?" I laughed. "Were you ever!"

:-.,,.-::-.,,.-::-.,,.-::-.,,.-::-.,,.-::-.,,.-::-.,,.-:

Today, after I dropped Olivia home and was getting off at my own place, Andrea dropped by to say hi. She startled me quite badly.

I was just locking the car when she popped up right in front of me. "Hi, mediator," she said, smiling. "Erm, hi Andrea," I said. "What's up?" "You mediators are very funny," she said in a deep, husky tone. "You know practically everything about me, but I don't even know your name." "Oh," I said, realizing that she was right. I held out my hand for her to shake it. "I…I'm Jason. Jason Slater." She shook my hand. "Charming." "And my…uh…friend's name is Olivia. Olivia de Silva." "De Silva…she sounds Spanish? I thought she was one." "Her dad's…Spanish." "Oh," she said. "All right."

"Okay, then," I said, not knowing what to say. "Bye." "Bye? Are you asking me to leave so soon?" she asked in that same deep, husky voice. "I thought you'd ask me over for a snack or something." "I have homework." I blurted. "Oh…" she said. "Fine then, I'll catch ya later." Saying this, she dematerialized in a flash.

I had forgotten that it was Friday, the days when Dad comes home early, at about two in the afternoon, instead of at seven. So when I walked in, I saw Mom and Dad both standing against a wall…and _making out_. Seriously. I'm retching as I say this, but there was some pretty serious fingers-in-various-places-action going on. And, believe it or not, they were so engrossed in making out that they didn't even see me as I went past. I just looked away and rushed upstairs. I mean, I'm not saying that making out is wrong or anything, and I know that they love each other and all, but all I'm saying is…at least they could have chosen a more _private_ place, say their bedroom. Maybe they forgot that they have a sixteen-year-old son. But whatever.

I went up to my bedroom. Just then, my phone (Mom and Dad provided me with my own phone and phone line) rang. I picked it up. "Jason Slater, how may I help you?" "Hi Jas," tinkled Olivia's voice. "It's me." As if she needed to say that. "And you have _got_ to stop that silly 'I'm-Jason-Slater-how-may-I-help-you' routine! It's so…silly!" she said, making a mock imitation of my answering dialog. "All right, all right," I said. "Anyway…so what's up?" "Oh," said Olivia. "Nothing much. I was…um…having a bit of trouble with my homework, so I thought I'd ask you if I could pop over and do our homework together." "Sure," I said. "Come on over." Except that I knew that homework was just an excuse – Olivia was just looking for a reason to pop over.

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_**Hi guys,**_

_**Sorry for the last edition of this chapter…it had quite a few things amiss in it. I had typed it out, but I still had to go over it; but I forgot that the editing & A/N was still left so I posted it just like that. Anyway…this was the final version…hope you liked it!!**_

_**Please review…**_

_**PGP**_


	3. It Was A Matter of Chance! Or Was It?

_**Hi guys**_

_**You people are so mean…I hardly got any reviews for the first chapter! So pleeeeeeease review. If you're not liking the story…then TELL me what I can change about it!! Anyway…there's a serious dose of suspense and action comin' up…so head's up!!**_

_**EE-N-JOY!**_

–_**PGP**_

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**CHAPTER THREE**

**IT WAS A MATTER OF CHANCE…OR WAS IT?**

Olivia's POV 

'I'm sure it's not homework…Olivia's just looking for a reason to pop over.' That's what Jas must be thinking when I called him up and asked if I could drop in at his place for homework. But that's because:

(a) He knows me too well.

(b) He knows me _just_ too well.

And (c) He's thinking right.

Anyway…I (as usual) hopped into my Manolo Blahnik suede boots and drove to Jas's place, taking along my Geometry books and a protractor for good measure. Too bad I forgot them in my car.

You know the whole no-shoes-in-the-house ritual, so I'll just skip over to the part where I reached Jason's room. As I walked towards his bedroom, I heard laughing and chattering. But I didn't suspect anything to be amiss. As usual, I expected to see Jas hunched shirtless over his homework with his iPod in his ears. And I saw just that – he was in his chair all right, and he was shirtless. Innocent. The scene was anything but.

For Andrea was sprawled on top of him.

Jason's POV 

A little while after I put down the phone after speaking to Olivia, Andrea materialized right in front of me. She appeared dangerously close to me…there was barely a distance of a couple of millimeters.

"Whoa!" I cried, kicking my legs out as a reflex because I got so startled. By doing this, I made Andrea lose her balance, and she fell right on top of me. And, unfortunately, at that exact moment, Olivia walked into the room.

Crying out "It's not what it looks like!" was my first reaction. Olivia's eyes went wider than they already were, when I said this. "J-Jason? Andrea? What's goin' on in here?" sputtered Olivia. I pushed Andrea off me with all my might. She looked shocked, but I couldn't care less. Right now I had to get Olivia to change her perception of the situation.

I gulped and got up from my chair. I walked towards Olivia. "Look, Olivia," I said. "It's not what it looks like. I swear it isn't. It was just that Andrea appeared really qui –" "Jason, it's okay." Olivia cut me off in a cold voice. "It really is." "Olivia!" Her gaze shifted from my face to behind me. I looked behind to see what she was looking at. I noticed that Andrea had vanished. I turned back to Olivia. Her gaze had flickered back to me. "Jason," she whispered. "How could you not tell me?"

Olivia's POV 

I still can't believe Jason and Andrea have something going on.

After Andrea dematerialized, I went home, too. Mr. and Mrs. Slater weren't home – it was just Jason, me and Layne, the house help. And she was busy with her own work.

I went out of his room, walking briskly, my main aim being to reach the front door without breaking out into a fit of bawling. Seriously. That's how hurt and betrayed I felt. I mean – it wasn't a rule that just because I liked Jason he has to like me, too, but the least he could have done was to _tell_ me about her. At least he could tell me – I'm his _best friend_.

And yeah – I still couldn't believe that Jason has such bad choice. I mean, _Andrea_? The first thing that came to my mind when I saw her was SLUT. I bet she must have been through at least twenty guys by now.

But then, however close-knit friends we might be, Jason is, after all, the one who controls his life and who he dates and/or snogs.

Anyway, I quickly headed for the door, with a still-shirtless Jason trying to keep up with me. He kept calling my name, trying to get me to stop. But I knew I had to keep going, so I just hurried out, hopped into my car and accelerated. Why does Jason think he has to justify anything to me, anyway?

Andrea's POV 

That Jason guy is seriously cute. And that's not what a seventeen-year-old girl often says for a sixteen-year-old guy. Anyway. He's pretty hot… I wouldn't mind having a fling with him. But I'm not sure he'd agree – he seems to be totally into his 'friend', that girl Olivia. But looks like the chances of something happening between them look bleak. Thanks to me. Ha.

A couple of hours later Olivia's POV 

Oh God…I suck at being pissed off at Jason! I hate him for choosing Andrea, yet I can't seem to stop loving him with my whole heart…

Jason's POV 

Two words: this sucks. Olivia's still acting totally cold to me. I tried to call her on her cell, but it just kept going to voicemail. _Hi you're calling Olivia de Silva! I'm probably out at cheerleading practice or with my pal Jason Slater, so please leave a message after the beep! (Beep)_.I'm still trying.

Olivia's POV 

Jason is trying to call me on my cell since the past half hour. The truth is…I'd give anything to talk to him…but I wouldn't trust myself to speak – I'm bawling like a baby. I can't stop crying. I'm sobbing even harder than I did when I saw _Titanic_. And that's saying something.

Uh-oh. I was hoping Mom would stay at her friends Adam and CeeCee McTavish's a little longer. But she's back. Now she's coming up to my room, probably to see if I'm home. It's no use trying to wipe away my tears or washing my face. She'll see through it anyway, so I'd might as well tell her the whole story. Except that the part about my crush on Jason is gonna be a little hard to tell.

**&&&&&**

Mom came into the room, just as I expected, clutching this month's copy of _Vogue_ magazine to her chest. She came in with a smile and an expression as if she wanted to tell me something. But when she saw me, her face turned to an expression of motherly concern.

"Olivia," she said, softly. "Honey. What's the matter?" She came and sat down next to me where I was lying on my face in my bed. I looked up again, and this time sat up. I wiped my face with the back of my hand.

"What's the matter, sweetie?" she repeated. "Mom!" I wailed, my voice coming out more whiny than I intended. "I hate Jason!" Mom looked taken aback at this. Because even though we're best friends, we NEVER fight. "Why? Did you have a fight with him?" "No, Mom," I sniffed, still surprised that I possessed the ability to speak. "But you won't believe me." "Try me," chuckled Mom. "Okay," I sighed. "But promise you won't embarrass me." "Oh, trust me, I've had my share of embarrassing moments when I was sixteen, so I know. Now tell me." "I have a crush on Jason." "Oh. Is that all. Why are you crying, then?" "No, it isn't. The thing is, there's this ghost we're mediating with Father D, and today when I went to Jason's place, I found her on top of him." Mom looked shocked. "You mean…Jason has…" "No Mom!" I said, shrilly. Yuck! "But I think they were…making out."

"Olivia," said Mom, her voice returning to a Mommy-tone. "Never _think_ anything. It's possible that you're mistaken." "Mom." I said, coldly. "I didn't know that there could be another reason for a girl being on top of a guy other than making out." "Olivia! Don't make assumptions! I'm sure Jason is doing nothing of the sort." "Mom, seriously. Why can't you accept the fact that Jason is in love with Andrea?! It isn't like a mediator can't fall for a ghost!" "You're telling _me_!" she chuckled. Actually. Who am _I _telling? "Anyway, my advice to you would be to not make any assumptions until you know the whole truth." "All right Mom," I sighed. "Thanks." I felt a little better now, but the fact that Jason had another (and a very icky) girlfriend still kept hounding me.

A couple of minutes after Mom was gone, the phone rang. I stared at my extension. I couldn't risk receiving the call, so I let Mom take it. But as soon as the ringing had stopped, I grabbed my receiver and held it to my ear to listen who it was. Just like I expected, it was Jason. He must have called the house because my cell phone kept running into voicemail.

The conversation went something like this:

_**Mom:**_ _Hello._

_**Jason:**_ _Hi, Mrs. de Silva? This is Jason. Is Olivia home?_

_**Mom:**_ _She is, Jason, but I don't think this is the best time._

_**Jason:**_ _Please, Mrs. de Silva! I really need to speak to her! I can explain –_

At this point, I was about to tell Mom to put down the extension, but before I could, Mom went:

_**Mom:**_ _Jason, I know everything that's happened. I suggest you call later or meet Olivia at school._

_**Jason:**_ (Sighs) _Okay, thanks, Mrs. S. G'bye._

_**Mom:**_ _Bye, Jason._

After the call had ended, I said sulkily over the extension, "Thanks Mom." Not waiting for a reply, I put the phone down.

After a couple of minutes, my phone beeped. Someone had text messaged me. I picked it up, not hoping it to be anyone in particular. If you catch my drift. I picked up the cell and pressed 'see message'.

_**Olz, plz call me or PREFERABLY COME OVER. V really need 2 talk. I swear it isn't wht u think – there is NOTHING going on between Andrea & me!! If u trust me then u will contact me. Try 2 cum over PLEEZ.**_

Love Jas 

Hmm. He's begging me so much. Maybe I'll just go over.

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So guys 

_**I know I suck at giving cliffhangers…but that wasn't meant to be a cliffy anyway (lol). So PLEASE PLEASE **__**PLEASE**__** review this chapter, I'll be forever grateful (lol again!).**_

_**Cheerio…**_

_**PGP **_


	4. Two Concussions & A Broken Arm

_Hi people_

_Thank you SO MUCH for the reviews you guys sent me for the 3__rd__ chapter!! … Keep reviewing so generously, guys!! _

_--PGP_

_(P.S.: I had put _Pretty Woman_ as a sad movie in the 1__st__ chapter coz I hadn't seen it, so I didn't know…I just assumed. A coupla days ago, I got the DVD and saw it, so I was like, "OMG…I kept it as a sad movie, but it's anything but sad…gotta change it!!" So I've changed the 1__st__ chapter from _Pretty Woman, Popcorn & Pizza_ to _Titanic, Popcorn & Pizza_. I know it doesn't have that particular ring to it because of the three P's, but I didn't have much of a choice. Hope you guys don't mind…& keep the reviews comin'!!)_

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CHAPTER FOUR

TWO CONCUSSIONS & A BROKEN ARM

Jason's POV 

That is _it_. I've made up my mind about three things:

(a) I hate Andrea with my HEART, SOUL and BODY.

(b) I love Olivia more than ever and she's The One for me.

(c) FATE'S DEALT ME A ROTTEN HAND OF CARDS IN THE LOVE DEPARTMENT.

You probably know about the last two points already, so I'll clarify the first point for you.

After my text message, Olivia text messaged me back to say that she was coming over. I was overjoyed – I thought we'd get a chance to sort things out. But boy, was I wrong. A big problem turned up. a problem by the name of ANDREA TITIAN.

She materialized, and this time, there was nothing coincidental about the fact that she practically pounced on top of me and started kissing me like a maniac. I tried to cry out in protest, but she had me pinned on my bed, and was doing her best to keep my mouth shut with her own. For a second, I managed to get her face off mine, and gasped for breath. "Andrea!" I cried. "Are you crazy? What the hell's goi–" But Andrea cut me off by covering my mouth with hers again. And it was no use struggling – she had me pinned down too well.

I pushed her mouth off mine. But before I could say anything, she went, "Oh come on, don't tell me you haven't been wanting this all along." (A/N: Hint hint! Think filthy – what-Paul-did-to-Suze-in-book5) "No way!" I cried. "Olivia's the one I like, not _you_, you slut." Apparently, this wasn't the correct thing to say, because it swung Andrea into a mood of wanting to strangle me, the guy she'd been forcibly showering kisses upon a minute ago. She started pressing against my throat, so I couldn't breathe, let alone cry for help. I flailed my arms crazily, trying to get away from her, but it was no use. She had a look of pure anger in her eyes, and nothing was going to stop her from doing what she wanted – to kill me.

That's when Olivia came into the picture. I almost breathed in relief when I saw her, except that at that particular moment, breathing wasn't exactly on the list of things I could _do_.

Olivia, at the moment I'm assuming she realized what was happening, gave a little squeak. She charged at Andrea from behind, and started hammering her rear end. Andrea gave a screech, and turned around to face Olivia. She gave her hard slap across the face, then proceeded to catch hold of _her_ throat. She shook her front and back for a couple of seconds, then took her head and bashed it against the wall, making her pass out. Andrea swung around loosely, thwacking me on my face. Then she picked up my baseball bat which was lying near my bed, and whacked me on my right arm with all her force. I fell on the floor, my arm hurting to the point that I couldn't move it. Then she gave me a hard one on top of my head with her elbow. I moaned in pain.

That was it. I couldn't take anymore. I grabbed Andrea's long hair from below and pulled her down. Then I made a grab at my baseball bat, which she had dropped, and hit her hard on the head with it. This made her pass out instantly. But my woes weren't over – I could feel myself losing consciousness.

I went crazy then, and screamed "Mom! Dad!" as loud as I could, before blacking out myself.

Paul's POV 

I was having a pretty intense make-out session with my wife Christie down in the living room when I heard my son Jason shout out for both of us. He sounded hurt, so we instantly dashed up the stairs.

It wasn't the most comforting sight to see my son, his best friend and a ghost-girl lying in a row on the floor, all blacked out. Christie went pale.

I went up to Jason and shook his face, but to no avail. So I quickly tried my luck with Olivia and the ghost, but both were totally out. Olivia had a pretty nasty looking bump on her forehead, and the ghost's head was bleeding furiously. I guessed that they had both been hit on the head in two different ways to pass out, although I could see no apparent reason for Jason fainting. But I noticed that his right arm looked rather sore. So I told Christie to call 911 and get an ambulance.

While she called 911, I phoned Suze to tell her about Olivia. "Hello? Suze?" "Yeah, hi Paul." "Listen, Olivia's passed out." "WHAT!!??" "Yeah. Her, Jason and a ghost chick are all lying senseless here on the floor of Jason's room. Olivia looks like she might have had a concussion, so Christie's calling an ambulance. Get here fast, and bring de Silva along if possible." Suze replied with a frantic all right and hung up. "Hello?" said Christie on the phone. "Yes, I'm calling for an ambulance. There are thr – er, two people here, and one looks like she's got a concussion and the other appears to have a sprained arm. Both have fainted…Yes take it down. It's 56, Nineteenth Avenue, Palm Hill…All right, thanks. Please hurry." Then she turned to me. "The ambulance is on the way," she said. "Okay, babe."

A minute later, Suze came stumbling up the stairs with Jesse behind her, both looking purely worried. Just then we heard the ambulance siren wailing downstairs. I ran down the stairs and opened the door. I ran out and saw the ambulance. "Upstairs," I said urgently to the man coming stepping out of the ambulance. "Two stretchers." "Yeh, mate," he said. "Follow me." I said. So four nurses followed me with two stretchers in their hands.

They quickly put Olivia and Jason into them and ran down. Jesse, Suze, Christie and I scrambled down after them.

Jesse's POV At the hospital 

"Is it anything serious, Kelle?" I asked Dr. Kelle-Anne Layne, who was the doctor attending to Jason and Olivia, and incidentally, one of my colleagues. "No," said Kelle. "Nothing serious. Your daughter just got a small concussion, and her friend has broken his right arm. But there's something you should know. That's a bit serious." "What?" I said, immediately. "There are finger-marks around your daughter's neck, Jesse. Which means someone tried to strangle her to death." "What…" "Yes, Jesse. It's clear. You can have a look if you like." "All right, Kelle. Thank you." I went up to Susannah, who was sitting tight on one of the waiting chairs, looking tensed.

"_Querida_," I said. She jumped up when I called her. "Yes, Jesse?" she said, a hopeful look in her beautiful green eyes. "What did your friend say?" "She says that Olivia has simply suffered from a concussion," She breathed in relief. "But she said that there are finger-marks around her neck, which means that somebody tried to strangulate her." "What…you mean…you mean someone _deliberately_ tried to…kill our Ollie?" "Yes, Susannah. Kelle-Anne said that we could have a look if we wanted to." "What do you mean _if we wanted to_?!" cried my _querida_. "Of course we want to! Someone tried to _kill_ our baby, Jesse! Of course we have to see!" I caught hold of Susannah's shoulders firmly. "Susannah. Calm down. You will not achieve anything by getting hysterical. Keep your cool and come with me. We will have a look."

Susannah looked up at me, her eyes welling up with tears. Then she burst into sobs, and collapsed against my chest, sobbing. I wrapped my arms around her protectively. "I _know_ that a mediator's job involves risking your life. I _know_ it d –" but she couldn't continue further – she was crying too much. I hugged her tighter.

After a few minutes, when Susannah was not crying so hard, we walked into Olivia's room. She was trying to sit up in bed, with a bewildered look on her face, as if she didn't know where she was. I, as a doctor, was familiar with patients being confused about where they were, especially in emergency cases like heart attacks.

Susannah rushed to Olivia's bed and enveloped the confused Olivia in her arms. "Ollie," she sobbed. "my baby." Olivia, after looking around for a few moments, hugged Susannah back. "Mom," she said. "Where am I? What happened? The last thing I remember is Andrea banged my hea –" she looked as if she was analyzing our faces. "You don't have a clue what I'm talking about, do you?" "Honey," said Susannah. "Tell us what you're saying."

"All right, Mom," sighed Olivia. "See, I told you about that ghost Jason's involved with, right?" Susannah nodded. "She sort of, um…" Olivia glanced at me awkwardly. "Yes, honey? What did she do?" Olivia looked at me again.

"Wait a sec, Olivia," said Susannah, getting up. She came up to me. "Jesse," she whispered. "Yes, _querida_?" "I think you should leave us alone for a while." "Why? What is the matter?" "I guess, um, you could call it…girl talk. Olivia doesn't seem comfortable telling me whatever she wants to with you in the room. Please?" It was impossible to say no to Susannah when she looked at me like that.

I sighed. "All right, Susannah," I said. "I'll go and check on Jason and speak to Paul and Christie until then." "Okay," said Susannah. "I'll see you later."

Suze's POV 

"All right, honey." I went and sat down next to Olivia. "Now you can tell me what the matter is. What do you remember?" "Okay, Mom. Here goes."

"I had gone over to Jason's to sort things out, but instead, I found Andrea beating him up…"

"Andrea?" I asked, confused. "Who's she?"

"Oh," said Olivia. "Sorry. She's the same ghost I thought Jason was involved with – the one we're mediating with Father Dom's help."

"Okay," I said. "Go on."

"Okay. So when I went over to Jason's, I saw Andrea beating him up."

"Beating him up? But why…?"

"I don't know! But anyway, she was beating him up, so I tried to pull her off. But she caught hold of me and banged my head in against a wall. So I guess I passed out."

"Oh…All right." I was burning with anger at this Andrea chick. How dare she do this? Andrea, whoever you are, you're a dead woman walking.

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So … how was this chapter?? I know the story is going a little slow at this point, but it'll pick up, I promise. Just keep the reviews comin'!!

Anyway…I'm sorry for the loooooooong wait. My vacations are (sob!) over, & so is my free time… waah. It's just THREE DAYS into the new term & I'm already having nightmares about my algebra homework. So, I apologize in advance for the long waits. Sob.  
--PGP


	5. A Visit From Father Dominic

_Hello everyone,_

_Hope you enjoyed chapter 4!! Enjoy 5 too…_

_--PGP_

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CHAPTER FIVE

A VISIT FROM FATHER DOMINIC

Jason's POV 

I went home from the hospital with a plaster cast on my arm. The doctor, after getting the nurse to X-ray my right arm, declared it was broken. Well…I guess the only plus point was that I wouldn't have to attend school for a couple of days. Other than that, there are only minus points –

(a) I can't meet Olivia, or any of my friends for that matter.

(b) I can't play video games.

(c) I can't type on the computer/write ANYTHING AT ALL. Which means NO emailing or writing messages. Which means that the only contact I can have with any outsiders will be the phone, which will also be relatively difficult, considering the fact that I'm gonna have to operate with a single arm.

After the incident, no one knows where Andrea vanished. She probably woke up to an empty room, and dematerialized.

I was seriously bugged when they told me that I wasn't allowed to meet Olivia. They said she'd had a concussion. I was shocked and confused at first, but then I remember that Andrea had banged her head against the wall. That bitch. I swear I'm gonna get her one of these days. When I said that, Mom went like, "Now, Jason, you mustn't think with your heart. Think with your brain. These sort of things happen regularly when you are a sixteen-year-old shifter, and I'm sure Olivia understands and can handle herself." I had just mumbled, "Yeah, Mom, whatever." Which, I'm sure you've guessed, proves that I'm still gonna get her.

I had a bad feeling about Andrea the moment Father D told us about how she got killed. I mean, to _be_ at a an illegal drink-party in _itself_ proves what kind of a person she is. She's probably even a drinker, smoker, druggie and what not. Seriously, it isn't hard to guess the background of these people once you get to know where and with whom they hang around.

Talking of Father D, he dropped by to visit me. He had come rushing in with this (somewhat funny) totally scared look on his face. The part that made it look funny was him trying to shuffle along as fast as possible in his standard friar uniform, his habit. Today he was wearing a gray one.

I looked on silently with an amused look on my face, as he settled himself into the chair by my bed which Mom had brought since I returned from hospital.

"Why," I said finally. "Father! What are you doing here?"

Before replying, Father D produced a large black handkerchief from nowhere and gave his forehead a couple of dabs.

"Jason! What is all this? Explain everything!" Father D babbled. Seriously, you wouldn't believe he's been a mediator since almost eighty years, the way he gets flustered if anyone breaks a couple of bones on a mediating job. But I guess he's pretty worried about Olivia and me.

"Father Dom," I laughed. "Chill! It's okay. I'm fine. It's nothing." Father Dom looked like I had told him something utterly absurd. "Jason. Please tell me everything that happened," he said, in a more relaxed voice.

"Okay, Father D." I took a deep breath and told him everything that happened, right from when Andrea had seduced me up till the point we had landed in hospital because of her rage. Although the part about Andrea jumping my bones seemed to make Father D, you know…uncomfortable.

He sat silent for a few moments, then sighed. "Jason. Do you realize that this girl has still not discovered her full abilities as a spirit, and yet she has already wreaked so much havoc?" I nodded. "Yes'r." "So, exactly what do you plan to do to control her?" "Get rid of her, more like," I muttered sulkily. "Sorry?" said Father D, the pitch of his voice rising a notch. "You are not to use the easy way out, Jason. It is not only easy, but also wrong." "Yeah, whatever Father." I knew exactly what he was talking about – exorcising. Damn. Now I'd have to find another way out of this mess, because it was no use trying to do it behind Father D's back – he'd find out for sure, then I'd be in soup. _Deep_ and _spicy_ soup.

Suze's POV 

I looked in the mirror. I was wearing a black stretch top and my black tights, and had tied back my hair in a high ponytail.

As I put on my best ghost-busting leather gloves with spike-lined knuckles, Jesse came inside the bedroom. He was pretty silent, but I knew he was there because I saw him in the mirror. He took a few steps towards me, but jumped back in shock when he saw my gloves.

"Susannah!" He looked shocked, all right. "What is this? What are you doing and where did you get these…gauntlets?!" He stared in horror at my gloves. Gauntlets? What in the world are _gauntlets_?! Oh yeah, my bad – I forgot my husband was born in 1870.

I turned around, my face still in its serious expression. "Jesse. Chill out. I'm just going to _take care_ of the ghost who messed around with my daughter."

These words felt unfamiliar in my mouth, like a dish I had never tasted. Normally in such cases my explanation would be "I'm just going to take care of the ghost who messed around with _me_." But then that was the time when I was in my mid-teens. Now I had a _daughter_ who was in _her_ mid-teens. Times had changed.

"_Querida_, please don't be silly. You don't even know who or where she is or how she looks." "So?! Moms can't go wrong with such things. I'll track that madwoman down. And kill her." "That," said Jesse, dryly. "should be difficult, _querida_, given that she's already dead." Hey, wait a sec. That line sounds kinda familiar. When, when… whatever. Forget it.

"Yeah Jesse, whatever." I slipped into my black Converse All-Stars. "All right, _querida_," sighed Jesse. "I am your husband, and good husbands do not let their wives walk into the jaws of danger. And I'm not about to give up my duty as a good husband just because of your stubbornness." "Jesse! Please!" Oh Gawd. I hadn't considered Jesse's unwillingness to budge. "Jesse, please let me _go_. You know I'm not doing this for myself. It's for Olivia. _Our_ Olivia." I said, giving emphasis on 'our', hoping to convince him with the whole guilt trip thing.

Jesse took a step towards me and put his hands behind his back. If I'm not mistaken, he looked…amused. "_Querida_, would you agree to give up this ridiculous idea of yours if I…gave you something?" "What?!" I was shocked. "Jesse, are you trying to _bribe_ me out of this?" Jesse gave a cheeky nod, that frustrating amused expression still stuck to his face. "And what exactly do you plan to keep me back with?" I asked, intrigued. Jesse took another step towards me. He took his hand out from behind him and slid it around my waist. "This."

Okay, this was certified, one hundred percent UNFAIR. Jesse knows me _too_ well! It's _illegal_ for a person to know another person so well! It's–

Ooh. _No, MUST hold back. Can't fall prey to temptation. _Oh my. This is just… _Noooooo! Suze, use WILLPOWER. Come on, you can collect some from SOMEWHERE inside you!_ Willpower? Damn willpower! This is…TOO GOOD.

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_**Hope the chapter was nice!!**_

_**Well… there's only ONE way to let me know, and it concerns a little lavender button… you KNOW what I'm talking about!! So go on!!**_

_**See ya till the next chapter…**_

_**--PGP**_


	6. Back to School

_**Hi guys**_

**_Here is the 6th chapter –_-****_ FINALLY (Anshika, you can stop your Hanuman Chalisa lol)… it took me ages to write coz I only have, like, 10 minutes of spare time a day. I hope you like it!_**

_**Reviews… well you know the whole deal 'bout 'em!**_

_**-PGP**_

LAwoman-jimmorrison (anshika)… here's Jason for you!! 

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**CHAPTER SIX **

**BACK TO SCHOOL **

A week later Olivia's POV

As soon as my friends got to know of my concussion, I was flooded with about a million phone calls. Finally, I had to switch off my cell phone for a while, and then when I put it on again, I was flooded with text messages and voicemail.

Liz Shane (vice-captain of cheerleading squad): "Olivia! OMG… Are you okay? CALL ME."

Phoebe Lewis (cheerleading squad): _Phe-B. L: Ol, I hrd abt ur concussion. CALL ME!!!!! How did you get it? I hrd that Jason's broken an arm. When r u coming back 2 schl? The squad's missing u alrdy._

Kyle Derek (fullback on the football team): _KyDe: Hey Olivia, hrd about ur accident. GWS & get back 2 school quick._

Lauren Smith (cheerleading squad): _Lauren S: Ol, hrd bout ur concussion. Bounce bac soon… v r missing u._

Well… there were many more which I do not wish to bore you with.

**Jason's POV**

_Nine days later..._

Okay…I'm back at school, but Olivia isn't going to be back till tomorrow, till Dr. Kelle allows her. Mrs. de Silva got totally worried because they found some marks of someone trying to strangle Olivia, on her neck. Then she got pissed, and tried to find Olivia and do something to her, but Dr. de Silva managed to convince her to stay. (A/N: Hmmm…)

I didn't even ever realize how popular I was. I mean, I _know_ I'm popular, but I didn't know I was _as-soon-as-you-walk-in-people-pounce-on-you-with-pens-and-autograph-books_ popular. _Seriously_!! As soon as I walked in, the entire cheerleading squad (minus Olivia, duh) pounced on me – pompoms and all – and went "JASON! JASON! ARE YOU ALL RRRRRRIGHT?" in their cheerleady sing-song tone. And then Liz Shane, the vice-captain of the squad (presumably in charge in Olivia's absence) barked "Girls! WBJ drill! Take your positions!" Then the squad proceeded to do a complicated drill involving all sorts of stunts, including throwing Liz in the air and her spinning and landing back. It must have lasted at least five-six minutes.

When they were done, Liz jumped off the human-pyramid and bounced up to me with an expectant beam on her face. "Um, thanks!" I said, assuming that was the right thing to say. "That was a…great routine." "Thanks!" said Liz, still grinning. "Um, one question," I ventured. "Yeah?" said Liz with fake jolliness. (Was she flirting with me or something? Ugh.) "What does…WBJ stand for?" "Oh!" said Liz. "That stands for Welcome Back Jason!" "Oh, okay. Thanks." "No problem!" Liz chirped. Then she turned around and bounced off, the squad following her. Whoa.

The rest of the day seemed to be going off beautifully, except for my locker, which was reeking like a garbage truck because of all the dirty socks I had dumped in it. Andrea – much to my relief – seemed to have made a disappearance. Or so I thought.

Andrea's POV 

When I learnt that Jason had gone back to school, I decided to give him a break. You know, to catch up with his buddies and all. But only till he finished the day of school.

As Jason was starting his car, I slowly materialized on the passenger seat beside him. "Hey, Jason." His head jerked toward me. "Andrea." "Had a nice time?" "What?" "At school. Catching up with your pals. I thought I'd let you do that in peace." "Yeah, will you do another thing that gives me peace?" I gave him a quizzical expression. "Piss off out of my life. For _good_." I laughed mockingly. "Jason, Jason, Jason." I shook my head. "You think I'll just go away if you tell me to, don't you?" "I certainly _wish_ you would." I gave another laugh.

"Well, think again, 'cause that isn't about to happen."

"What's your _problem_?" cried Jason.

"My problem."

"YEAH! Why can't you freaking _leave me and Olivia alone_?!" Only he didn't say freaking. If you get my drift.

"I _can_. It's just that I don't _want_ to."

"Why!? What have we DONE to you? We tried to help you. But no. All _you_ wanna do is wreck things for everyone you can!"

"This argument isn't taking us anywhere."

Jason looked flabbergasted. I held back a smile. "Well, I can see that nothing's gonna _take_ _you_ away, so I think I'm gonna have to use my ways!"

"And what might those be?"

"Just…GO AWAY!"

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes disgustedly and dematerialized.

Olivia's POV 

I'm back to school! I'm totally happy. I didn't even realize how much I had missed the squad until they all jumped on me and gave me a giant hug, which I gladly returned.

I got Phoebe to pick me up, because I didn't think I was ready to face Jason yet. I didn't even know what was going on. Were we okay? What was going on in his mind? Did I do the wrong thing by trying to get Andrea off Jason? Was she doing it with his consent? Was he pissed off at me? There were more than enough questions flying through my brain, but there was only one way to get answers to them – _speaking to Jason_. Which was something, as I earlier said, I wasn't exactly ready to do yet. I mean, I guess I could have spoken to him without much difficulty if we didn't know each other that well. But that was the problem. _We knew each other too well_.

"Ol? Olivia? OLIVIA!" Liz waved her hand in front of my face. "Yeah." I snapped back into reality. "Sorry." "Cheerleading practice. When do you wanna schedule it for today?" "Um…I dunno. After school?" "Two hours like always?" "Yeah, sound okay." "Cool."

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_**Sorry for such an abrupt end… I couldn't think of anything. Anyway, review review review away!!!!!!**_

_**If this chapter wasn't that great…sorry. I'm just suffering from a li'l writer's block.**_

_**Anshika, sorry I couldn't give too much Jason fluff in this. I'm trying in the next chapter, though.**_

_**Adios amigos, until the next chapter!!**_

_**-PGP**_


	7. Reconcilation

**Helloo **_**pepols**_

**Hope the last chapter was good. I know it wasn't the most interesting of the lot, but I promise this one's better. **_**Much**_** better!**

**-PGP**

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CHAPTER SEVEN 

**RECONCILATION**

Olivia's POV 

I've been going to school with Phoebe for a few days now. Everything seems to be fine. Except that they've gone totally ahead in Trig. and I haven't understood a _thing_ of what Liz explained to me. I don't know who I was fooling when I told her "Liz, that was the clearest explanation I could get. Better than Mr. Smith could give me, even. You're a great tutor." It's pretty obvious I'm not gonna get a thing unless Jason tutors me.

Jason's POV 

I don't KNOW what's up with Olivia. I really don't. Why the hell is she avoiding me like I'm plague? Seriously. I call her, it runs into voicemail. I message her, it's like messaging a nonexistent number.

So today I had no option but to go to a payphone after school and call her from that so she wouldn't reject my call.

I dialed her number after swiping my American Express card. Her caller tune, 'Girlfriend' by Avril Lavigne, filled my ear.

"Hello?" "Olivia." "Jason? Is that _you_?" "Yeah. Listen, Olivia. Hear me out. Please. Why aren't y–" "Are you calling me from a _payphone_?" "Yeah, but I had to do that so that you wouldn't reject my call–" "Hello? Hello? I can't hear you Jason, you're br–" The line went dead.

Olivia's POV 

I couldn't believe Jason wanted to talk to me _that_ badly. I mean, a _payphone_. And I thought he was just calling to be nice. But I guess our friendship's too deep for niceties only.

The line was terrible, so the call broke off in the middle. But – just as I had expected – Jason called right back. "Olivia. Please, talk to me. I'm really, really, really, _really_ sorry." "Jason!" I laughed. "Look, I'm at cheerleading practice right now. Can you pick me up in about two hours? We can talk then." Jason sounded positively elated when he answered. "Sure. I'll pick you up. Two hours from now. Exactly." "Yeah," I said. "Bye." "See ya."

Jason's POV 

I somehow passed two hours hanging around at the supermarket. I bought a bag of Doritos (and finished it), a pack of Gummi Wurmz (half gone), peppermints and a box of Swiss truffles to give Olivia. I know how much she loves them. I even got the box tied up in a glossy red ribbon in some fancy style for 50 cents. The woman who did it for me told me that that ribbon was meant as love token in a sort of warning voice. But I just went "Good," and walked off.

Finally, two hours went by and drove to school quickly.

When I reached there, Olivia was already waiting there alone, wearing tracks. Her hair was wet. She must have had a shower after cheerleading practice. "Hey," I said. "How come you're alone? I thought Liz or someone would be there with you." Olivia shook her head. "I sent them away. Wanted to be alone with you." I smiled. At least that showed that things were okay between us.

She slid into the passenger seat next to me. "So," she said, zipping her bag open and fishing out a hairbrush. She began to brush her hair. "What's been going on with you since the past coupla days?"

"Nothing," I said. "Life's been pretty boring without you."

"Ha hah," said Olivia. "You mean to say I'm a vital part of your life."

"Yes."

"Oh."

There was a moment's silence. Then I removed the box of truffles from my glove compartment. Olivia's hand immediately stopped midway down her tresses when she saw it. She let out an almost inaudible gasp. I smiled expectant-cum-hopefully. I was kind of hoping she knew the whole love token idea behind the ribbon. "Oh my God," she breathed, finally. "You. Got. Me. Swiss. Truffles. _With_. _A_._ Red_._ Ribbon_." There was a special emphasis on the last four words.

"Yeah, I did."

"Jason. Do you _know_ what this means?"

"Yes, I do."

"It's a…LOVE TOKEN!"

"Exactly."

"Oh my gosh…_you_ got _me_ a _love token_?"

"Yes!" I laughed.

"Jasy!" Olivia shrieked. Then, the next thing – to my delight – she had wrapped her arms around me and was giving me the tightest of hugs ever. And I, of course, was very joyfully hugging her back.

Finally, when the hug ended, I asked a grinning Olivia, "So. Do you like it?" She had already undone the ribbon and opened the box. She popped a chocolate in her mouth before answering.

"Are you kidding? I _love_ it!" she answered, still chewing.

I beamed. "So, are you free Friday night?"

"Yeah. Are you asking me on a date?" I could see that she was barely being able to contain her excitement.

"Uh huh. So how does The Diner sound?"

Olivia's POV 

"Are you kidding?" I couldn't believe this. Was this some kind of a joke? I mean…it seemed too good to be true. Jason. Love token. Date. THE DINER. I mean, The Diner is, like, the posh_est_ place in the whole of Carmel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"No, Olivia, I am _not_ kidding," laughed Jason. "Lemme make this clear. I. Am. Asking. You. For. A. Date. At. The. Diner."

"OKAY!!!!" I squealed, enveloping him in another Big Hug.

I seriously couldn't believe that I was _going on a proper date with Jason_. IT'S SHOPPING TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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**Hey guys**

**I think this chapter made up for the boringness of the last two writer's-block-infested chapters…lol!! People who wanted me to get Jason and Olivia together quickly…you're obliged! I can promise you that the next chapter will be one of the best, possibly excelling this one.**

And I'd like to thank you people…I've got more reviews for the first four chapters of GEBFS than all 11 chapters of Haunted a.k.a. Totally Bugged put together!! I guess I'm improving…I hope!

_**-PGP **_


	8. Kneecaps of Jelly

Hi again 

**I'm back with the 8****th**** chapter! I promised you people that the 8****th**** chapter would excel the 7****th****, but I decided to shift the excellence to the 9****th**** chapter. Anyway, enjoy this chapter.**

**Anshika & all other mush-n-fluff lovers…this chapter's gonna be the best. **

**-PGP**

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CHAPTER EIGHT 

**KNEECAPS OF JELLY**

Olivia's POV 

I went on a Giant Shopping Spree and spent about 200 gross dollars. And Mom didn't even say anything when I told her the cause for my joy and need for clothes. Don't even ask where I got the cash. I had to practically smash my piggy bank open. In a metaphoric sense, of course – I don't even _own_ a piggy bank.

I bought six pairs of shoes, a party dress, a cute little white dress (the sexiest thing of the lot; for The Date At The Diner) three pairs of designer denims and about twenty tops. I got the tops and jeans from a sale at this secluded little shop called Wins. It's always having 80 per cent off sales. Its only mode of advertisement is word-of-mouth, so naturally, the teen girls – especially the cheer squad – of the Mission are its prime customers. In a way, this is good because they are also bulk buyers. _Really_. One time spendings at Wins equal to about $100 for us.

Jason's POV 

God…I'm so nervous.

Olivia's POV 

Oh God. My kneecaps are turning into jelly. Yup. Already. And you know when that happens. Spot on right. When you've got First Date Jitters.

Jason's POV 

I started crying when I asked Dad to loan me a tux. Of nervousness.

_Dad: _"Jason! What's wrong?!"

_Me (whimpering)_ (Gawd…I know that sounds totally pathetic, but, well, I'm helpless)"Um, nothing, Dad."

_Dad: _"Well, whatever."

Then he gave me one of his tuxedoes – a black one. I was just about to walk away when he stopped me.

"Jason. When is your date?" This made me whirl around instantaneously. "Wh-what?" I went.

"Your date. When is it?"

"Dad…"

"Oh come on, I know all about it," said Dad impatiently. "When are you taking Olivia for a date? And why do you want a tux?"

"Um, okay, Dad. I'm taking her on Friday night. And the tuxedo's for the date."

Dad, looking incredulous, said, "Wow, times have certainly changed. Last I heard, guys took their girlfriends on dates to the movies and wore jeans."

I laughed. "Dad, I'm taking her to The Diner."

This compelled Dad to give a long whistle. Then he muttered under his breath two things that I didn't expect. "Classy man, classy son. Pity I couldn't ever take Suze on a date." Which prompted me to go, "WHAT!?"

"What 'what'?" said Dad, looking amused. "YOU WANTED TO TAKE MRS. DE SILVA ON A _DATE_?" "Oh, yeah, that," said Dad, smiling (A/N: If Suze was there she'd have said 'smirking' instead of 'smiling', naturally ;D).

"Didn't I ever tell you that story?"

"NO."

"Hmmm…that's funny, all right. So you wanna hear it?"

"What do you _think_, Dad?"

Dad laughed. "All right. When Suze and I were your age, she used to hate my guts. And I was madly in love with her. I refused to accept the fact that she liked de Silva, and I pursued her like crazy for a long time. Until I finally came to my senses. Then I let Suze and Jesse be, and I found your mom."

"Oh. I mean, ew. And thanks."

"Well…I understood the 'oh' and the 'thanks', but what was the 'thanks' for?"

"If you and Mrs. S had gotten married, then Olivia and I would never have met. We most likely would have been born siblings, right?"

Dad laughed again. "Right on, son. I guess whatever happened, happened for the best."

"Totally."

Olivia's POV 

I can't believe this. Someone up there really likes me. LOVES me.

The next day at school, after the Red-Ribboned-Truffle-Box event, Jason asked me if we were official. As in an OFFICIAL _ITEM_. I just went in this weird squeaky voice, "Yeah! Sure. Totally. I mean, yes." So now we're officially together!!!! The news has spread like wildfire in school, of course. Everyone keeps congratulating us again and again. It's getting kind of embarrassing now, actually.

Now the wait is up for the First Kiss… Hope and pray for me, pretty please?

Friday evening, on the way home from school… 

"Olz," said Jason, suddenly, breaking the moment-long silence.

"Yeah?"

"You will not believe what I just found out. It's, like, the grossest thing ever. If you don't already know it."

"What is it?"

"My dad was in love with your mom in high school."

"EWWWWWWWWW!! You _cannot_ be serious. You absolutely _cannot_."

"I am. Dad told me himself. And while he had a major crush on her, she hated his guts."

"I know about the hating-his-guts part…Mom told me!"

We both laughed together until we reached my house.

When we reached my house and Jason stopped the car, I opened the door and slid out. I shut the door of the convertible and leaned over it. "So…" I said, slowly. "You're picking me up at seven-thirty, right?" "Yup." "'Kay…See ya, then." "Bye." We stared at each other for a few more moments, then I gave him best smile and walked off.


	9. The Date

Tuh-daaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!! 

**And here's the 9****th**** chaptah! Hope everyone enjoys it…and I aℓso hope the readers aren't angry with me for 'shifting the exceℓℓence' of the 8****th**** chapter to the 9****th****… & for making it so late in updating.**

**And in case they are, there's a consoℓation package in this…it's an extra ℓong chapter!**

**And hey guys…I wanted to know if you aℓℓ ℓiked the titℓe of the ℓast chapter ('Kneecaps of Jeℓℓy')…I thought it was kinda appropriate since it invoℓves a ℓot of nervousness!**

**Anyway, I know you're dying to read the next chapter…**

**So without any more deℓay I present…**

**CHAPTER NINE **

**THE DATE**

**Olivia's POV**

_7:02 pm…_

I'm sitting ready. And since I need to divert my mind, I'll give you a roundup of how I'm dressed.If you wanna skip it, feel freee to do so. Or read it if you want. Preferably. Oh, just do whatever you like.

Dress: White dress I specially bought for this occasion, black silk shawl (borrowed from Mom)

Shoes: White tie-up stilettos with Swarovski jewels (I bought them at the shoe section at Wins…and they cost me $110 in the 80 per cent off sale)

Hair: I've twisted up my hair on top of my head in a knot. I don't think I was ever this pleased about having curly hair.

Jewelry: The most beautiful silver set of chandelier earrings and a slender chain that Mom lent me…Dad gifted the set to her on their first wedding anniversary.

**Jason's POV**

As I was fixing my tie, Andrea popped up behind me. I automatically groaned.

"Where are you off to in such formal clothes?" she asked me, looking somewhat surprised.

"A date."

"Oh," she looked pleased. "So you finally came to your senses and got over your 'friend'."

"You may be pleased to know," I said smugly. "that my date _is_ with her."

"Oh." Her pleased expression turned into one of displeasure.

"Isn't that lovely?" I said even _more_ smugly.

"You don't need to be such a pig, you know," said Andrea, crossing her arms across her chest and pouting like a child. "Rubbing it in my face like that."

I laughed at her statement. "_I_'m being a pig now, huh? And what have _you_ been doing all this time? Playing matchmaker?" I retorted.

"I _said_ I was sorry."

"You never did." I replied. "And anyway, the best way you can show you're really sorry would be to go away. Honestly. You have no idea how pissed Olivia's mom is with you. She was going to track you down and kill you for a second time."

Andrea chuckled. "If she could see me, that is."

"Oh!" I laughed. "She's one of the best ghost-busters of the time. Both of Olivia's parents and both mine are all mediators. And trust me, you don't wanna mess with 'em."

"Oh."

"So are you going now?"

She sighed. "I'll go away for now, but I'll be back. To check how your date went."

I reply, I gave a small smile that didn't prove anything. She seemed to be satisfied with this non-proving smile. Grinning she said, "You know, I was planning on dropping in at your little date. But now I think I won't."

"Thanks."

**Olivia's POV**

_7:16 pm_

I sat in the living room, trying to flick through the TV channels. But I was blindly staring at the screen – I actually had no clue what was going on. My mind was somewhere else entirely.

Mom came into the room, yawning. I looked up at her tersely. She laughed. "Honey," she said. "Are you all right?" Dad came out behind her.

"Yeah," I replied a little too quickly.

"Olivia, just take it easy. There's no use getting all nervous. Look at me. _I_ never got nervous at the age of sixteen when I was going out with your dad. We did all sorts of things, but mostly old movies in my room. You know, he had a lot of catching up to do movie-wise, considering they hadn't even been invented back when he was born…" I had heard this story a million times before, but this time it made me picture a sixteen year old, denim-clad Susannah Simon and a young, ghostly, glowing Jesse de Silva making out in front of a TV screen, curled up on the couch cozily. It served for nothing but to increase my urge to barf.

Dad just stood at the doorway connecting the living room to the house, playing the amused spectator.

"Thanks Mom," I said gratefully, anyway, hurriedly trying to rub away the image from my mind. Just then, I heard the doorbell ring. I got up, but Mom beat me to the door. She flashed me an undecipherable look before opening the door. Dad walked out from his spot. When Mom opened the door, Jason walked in, looking as nervous as me. The fact that he was nervous too, proved somewhat soothing to me. Don't ask me the logic behind that.

"Oh," said Mom. "Hello, Jason. Come in." He walked inside in a black tuxedo, looking very, very flustered and at the same time, very, very, _very_ hot and very, very, very, _very_ sexy. He ran his hand through his spiky blond hair looking down (a gesture I find killingly adorable), like he always does when he's nervous. It struck me that he hadn't done it in a very long time.

"H-Hi, Olivia," stuttered Jason. "Hi," I replied, my heart beating at the approximate speed of 500 miles per hour. In fact, I was surprised I possessed the ability to speak a sensible word.

There was an awkward silence for a few moments.

"So," I said in an attempt to break the tension in the atmosphere. "Jason. Should we get going?" I glanced at Mom, with a pleading please-Mom-DON'T-mortify-me-by-saying-anything-right-now look in my eyes. I guess she got the cue, because all she did was to smile at me again. But although it was Mom I had flashed the look to, what I was _actually_ worried about was Dad.

And my fears were justified. "What time are you going to get Olivia back, Jason?" demanded Dad. Well not demanded, exactly – he isn't that kind of a person – he just asked in a slightly commanding voice.

Before Jason could reply, I butted into the situation in the hope of bettering something. Mom looked more amused than ever. "Twelve-thirty, Dad." Dad looked utterly outraged. "Past midnight? Are you crazy, Olivia? Eleven and nothing later. It's your curfew time. Completely normal."

I swallowed and took a deep breath. "_Please_ Dad," I implored, giving him my best puppy-dog-eyes. Jason actually smiled. Dad shook his head stubbornly.

"Okay, Dad," I sighed. "Can we reach a compromise? Quarter to twelve." Dad looked like he might consider the idea. "Eleven-fifteen is the maximum I will stretch it." "Dad!"

That's when Mom intervened. She took two steps closer to where Dad was standing. "Come on Jesse," she cajoled. "Let her enjoy. Be nice." Dad looked as if Mom had betrayed him. It was quite an enjoyable look, if you get my drift. While Mom whispered in his ear, I moved to stand beside Jason. I linked my arm with his. We smiled at each other.

"All right," said Dad grumpily, turning to look at us. I let go of Jason's arm, figuring it would be the best thing to do at the moment. "Come back at twelve-thirty." I thought it would be wise to not argue further. So I just gave a big grin and said "Thanks, Daddy!" in a shrill voice and pulled Jason along. I totally felt like Cinderella. With thirty minutes extra.

Jason's POV Outside the house… 

I swallowed and smiled in relief. After a couple of seconds, I turned to Olivia and smiled again. She was tightly hanging on to my arm.

"Er," I said. "Let's go."

"Yeah!" said Olivia. "Let's go." She let go of my arm. I walked over to the door of the passenger seat and opened it. Then I made a come-on-in gesture with my arm to Olivia. She walked over and slid into the seat, and I went over to the other side and sat in the driver's seat.

When we were driving along, Olivia suddenly said, "Jason? Can I tell you something?"

"Yeah?"

"Erm…I think…I…nothing. It's okay."

"Hey, c'mon! Temme."

"Forget I said anything."

"Olivia." I stopped the car and looked at her.

"Hey! Why did you stop the car?"

"Olivia if you don't tell me, I'm not moving from here."

"Oh all right. I…I was just gonna say that I think…I think you're looking very, er, sexy." At this, she started blushing furiously. She looked down.

"Oh. Thanks."

"No problem."

**Third Person's POV**

When Jason and Olivia reached The Diner, they got out of the car and linked arms. Jason nervously adjusted his tie once again. "Ready?" "More than."

They walked into the restaurant.

After they had finished ordering, they decided to talk.

_Olivia:_ "So…what's new?"

_Jason:_"Nothing much…how's your cheerleading going?"

_Olivia:_ "Going good…when's your next football match?"

_Jason:_ "Two weeks later…against Robert Stevenson's."

_Olivia:_ "Sweet…we'll prepare a special routine for it."

_Jason:_ "Uh-huh…Hey, talking of routines, that reminds me – tell Liz to show you the WBJ drill."

_Olivia_ (looking confused) "WBJ? What's that?"

_Jason_ (smiling mysteriously) "Just ask her. You'll come to know everything."

_Olivia:_ "Um…okay."

Dinner was more or less eaten in silence, except for the occasional "How's the food?" or "Could I have a bite from that?", but both knew that the real magic awaited them after the meal. Olivia took three trips to the ladies' room through the date.

After they had finished eating, having dessert and paying the check, Olivia and Jason stepped out. The time was quarter past eleven – they still had about forty-five minutes.

"So," said Jason. "What do you want to do now? We still have forty-five minutes until you have to get home." Olivia thought for a minute. "Um," she said, finally. "I guess we could go to Wisteria Hill." Jason swallowed. Everyone knew Wisteria Hill was a major make-out spot for the students of the Mission. Jason's chest tightened. "Sure," he said, trying to sound casual. "Sure, we could go to Wisteria Hill. Let's go."

Both of them sat in the car. Just as Jason was about to start the ignition, Olivia said, "Jas. You're okay with this, right?" "Of course I'm okay!" said Jason almost indignantly. "All right, sorry," Olivia hurriedly replied.

**Jason's POV**

_I can't believe how perfect Olivia's suggestion was, _I thought as we drove along the empty roads. _Wisteria Hill. Who woulda thunk it? Did she read my mind or something?_

After about a three-minute drive, we reached Wisteria Hill. Surprisingly, there were only two couples there. Usually, there'd be at least ten of them. Both couples were making out. Nothing unusual about that. One of the couples were a redheaded girl and a guy with electric green hair (!!eyebrows up!!), pushed up towards the center like an imitation Mohawk. And the other, surprisingly, where a cheerleader, Phoebe Lewis, and Hunter Marten, our halfback. Hmm…so maybe I was wrong about him having a crush on Olivia. Or he was drunk. Whatever.

We both stepped out of the car and walked and stood close to each other.

"Isn't it beautiful?" asked Olivia, suddenly. "_You_ sure are," I answered, smiling. Olivia playfully whacked me. "The moon, silly." Oh, yeah. I should have realized that, because Olivia had been staring straight ahead, at the moon. "Oh, yeah, that," I said. "Yup. It's really cool. All misty and…moony." Olivia laughed. "The moon is moony. Yeah. Sure is!" We both chuckled.

**Olivia's POV**

I hugged my shawl closer to me. It was a pretty cold night, you know, for April. The wind was blowing briskly.

"Are you cold?" asked Jason. "No, um, kind of, yeah." "You want my coat?" "Aren't _you_ cold?" Jason shook his head. After wrapping the coat around me, he whispered to me, "And anyway, even if I was cold, I'd still give my coat to you." I smiled and squeezed myself close to him. He wrapped his arms around me protectively, and we kind of hugged sideways.

**Jason's POV**

When we released from our embrace, we stared at each other for a moment.

Then I leaned in close to Olivia and kissed her.

**Olivia's POV**

After our hug was over, we looked into each other's eyes for a moment.

Then Jason leaned in close to me and covered my mouth with his.

I closed my eyes. I had never felt happier in my entire life. It felt like someone had dumped a hundred Fourth of July (keywords: Fourth-of-July, kiss…hmm…wink wink…you'll know if you've read the sixth book (well obviously you have, or you wouldn't be reading this fanfic lol!)) firecrackers inside me and set me alight. Or like I was kissing an electrical socket. Seriously…it felt that good. I wrapped my arms around his neck, playing my fingers through his hair. He put his arms around my waist and pulled me close to him. If I had had any support behind me, I'm positive I would have sat myself on it and wrapped my legs around him, too. Too bad I didn't have any.

Finally, we came up for air. At that moment, all I was capable of doing was giving Jason a huge, goofy grin and throwing my arms around him.

**Jason's POV**

When we came up for air, Olivia surprised me by throwing her arms around me and enveloping me in a tight hug. I hugged her back and nuzzled my face in her curly black locks.

"Ow!" I said, as one of her hairpins poked my nose. "Here's a pin. Don't put your hair up. You look much prettier with it down." Olivia smiled. I removed a hairpin from her hair, and then three more. I handed them to her, and she shook her head from side to side to loosen up her hair.

"Can I tell you something?" she asked, settling against me. "Hmm…" I said, playing with her hair. "I hated the caviar we ordered." She looked at me like she expected me to feel bad. But I only laughed. "Don't worry," I chuckled. "I hated 'em more than you did." She looked at me with wide eyes like I was little kid who had stolen candy.

"What?" I said finally, unable to bear her gaze anymore. "But _you_ were the one who suggested them in the _first _place…" "Yeah, I know. I just ordered it because I was curious to know what it tasted like. But I've never had such a shitty dish in my life, trust me. 'Caviar, the finest food'. Bullshit. I bet you all those posh people only eat it to look cool." Olivia laughed her tinkly laugh which I love so much.

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**We****ℓℓ ****guys…**

**I made this chapter a****ℓ****most doub****ℓ****e the ****ℓ****ength of a regu****ℓ****ar one… (okay, okay, I did it for my p****ℓ****easure, too!)…hope it was nice!! Mush-n-f****ℓ****uff ****ℓ****overs, I'm thinkin' 'bout how much makin'-out to put in the coming chaptahz! And I've been serious****ℓ****y generous in this chapter, so you guys are ob****ℓ****igated to review!!!!!!!!!! ℓoℓ**

**And I'm kinda facing a shortage of ideas, so I'd be happy if some you guys cou****ℓd come up with some & e-maiℓ them to me!**

**Cheerio tiℓℓ the next chapter…**

**PGP**


	10. The Possession

**Hellooo…**

**Laura, Jason-Lover Anshika, Sabz, Faryal & every reader…hope the chapter is good! Please review.**

**-PGP**

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**CHAPTER TEN **

**THE POSSESSION**

**Jason's POV**

After the date, I dropped off Olivia at her place. We arrived at exactly twelve twenty-eight.

We stopped in front of her house, and Olivia got out of the car.

"You want me to walk you to the door?" I asked.

"Yeah," said Olivia, smiling. "Sure. That'd be nice."

"Cool." I got out of the car and walked up to her, and slid an arm around her waist. She gave it a brief glance, and we walked to the door. When we reached the door, though, instead of opening it and going inside, she stood there expectantly for about a minute. Then I realized how stupid I was being. Of course. A goodnight kiss. That's what she was waiting for. I leaned in and gave her a pretty long kiss. This time I made it a French. Olivia appeared happy at this, since she gladly seemed to be using her tongue, too.

After the kiss was over, I said, "All right, then. Bye." "Bye," said Olivia. "You free tomorrow?" "Yeah, sure," I said. "Wanna meet up somewhere?" "Correction," said Olivia. "Do _you_ wanna take _me_ somewhere? Remember, you're my only ride?" "Yeah," I laughed. "Okay. So…how does the mall sound? Twelve-thirty." "_Bueno_," said Olivia. "Pick me up at twelve-thirty." "'Kay," I said. "See you tomorrow."

**_Next day_**

I zoomed into the de Silvas' driveway. Olivia was waiting at the doorstep. I stopped the car and called to her, "Come on in!"

She hopped into her seat over the door. She was looking really pretty, wearing slim-fitting jeans and a white collar-shirt. She had left her hair loose, and it seemed to be damp.

She gave me a kiss on the cheek and said, "Morning," I could smell the sweet, fruity scent of her shampoo when she did this. "¡Me alegro de volver a verte!"

"Hi," I replied, accelerating the car. "Great to see you, too!" I had become quite an expert at Spanish being around Olivia, even though I had selected French instead of Spanish at school.

"I wanted to tell you two things today," she said. "About last night."

"Yeah?"

"One, I didn't mean to embarrass you with that, er, compliment," She blushed a bit. I nodded, unable to contain a smile.

"What!" she said. "Why are you laughing?"

"Nothing," I said, trying to control my smile. "Just…go on."

"Yeah," she said. "Okay. And the second thing was…yesterday was the best night of my life. Honest." Saying this, she placed a hand on my arm and gave it a little squeeze. I looked at her and smiled.

"Me too," I said. "Honest." She smiled at me broadly.

**Olivia's POV**

We soon reached the mall. We just walked around for a while (hand-in-hand!!!!!!). We spotted an instant-photograph booth, so we decided to get some pictures. We got a strip of four for 50 cents. Here's our poses in them:

_One: Me grinning like a crazy china-doll; Jason crossing his eyes and sticking his tongue out_

_Two: Both of us smiling sanely_

_Three: Us kissing (my favorite – duh)_

_Four: Both of us grinning_

After that, Jason pointed to this little jewelry shop called "Liriah's Junky J'wels".

"A junk jewelry shop?" I asked, confused.

"Just come along!" Jason replied, pulling me towards the shop.

We stepped into the shop. There was a jovial-looking girl at the counter. She looked about fifteen, and had black-framed glasses and curly red hair. At the counter, there were several pieces of bling jewelry and a lot of rings of different variety, and a whole bunch of charm bracelets on display. The shop seemed pretty cute.

"Hi!" she chirped as soon as we came in. "What would you like to look at?"

"Uh," Jason squinted at her nametag. "Katie. I'd like to see some necklaces and rings, please."

"For your friend?" she asked, smiling and turning to look at some boxes on the shelves behind her.

"Yeah. For my girlfriend." Jason said. A tingle of pleasure raced down my spine._ My girlfriend_. That sounded so good coming from Jason's lips. "A gift?" I asked, delighted. "For me?" "Yeah!" said Jason, smiling.

"Oh, I see," replied Katie. "If she's your girlfriend…um…would you like to get a custom-made piece of jewelry? It'll be ready in an hour. 11 dollars only!"

"Custom-made?" asked Jason. "What do you mean?"

"It's like this. You can give us a picture or a message, and we can make any piece of jewelry for you with it inscribed in it."

"Wow!" I said. "That sounds really cool! Let's get that, Jason!"

"'Kay," said Jason. "We'll do that then. What kind of jewelry would you like?"

"Um…" I said, thinking. "I think a bracelet sounds nice."

"Right," said Katie. "I'll show you the bracelets that can be printed, and you can have your pick."

"Okay."

Katie rummaged around under the counter, and finally produced a pamphlet. She handed it to me. "You can pick any one of these. I'll have to take the measurement of your wrist after you do." "All right!" I looked at all the designs in the pamphlet, and finally decided on a plain, silver design with a silver disk attached to it.

"How does this one look?" I asked Jason, pointing to the one I meant. "Nice," said Jason. "Just right." "Okay," I said. "So since this is _your_ gift to me, _you_ decide what message I should get on it. Katie, the picture will be on the disk, right?" "Yup," replied Katie.

**Jason's POV**

"'Kay," I said, smiling. "You want me to pick the inscription… I think we should put one of these pictures on it." I dug into my pocket and produced the four pictures we had taken in the instant-photograph booth. "And in my opinion," I pointed to the third picture – the one in which we were kissing. "it should be this one." Olivia blushed as I handed over the photo to Katie.

Katie took the picture from my hand and looked at it. "Ooh!" she said. "Romantic!" I smiled. "Yeah." "All right, then," said Katie to Olivia. "Give me your hand, ma'am, I'll measure your wrist." Olivia held out her wrist, and Katie took a measuring tape out of one of the drawers in the counter and wrapped it loosely around Olivia's wrist. "Would you like a complimentary choker with it?" asked Katie. "Why?" asked Olivia, looking surprised. "Oh," said Katie, her eyes twinkling. "Just like that. Think of it as a gift!" "Um," said Olivia. "Okay."

**Olivia's POV**

Why do Katie's eyes remind of Andrea's? That's really peculiar…

**Jason's POV**

After Katie measured Olivia's wrist, she wrapped the tape around her neck to measure it for her choker.

Unaware, Olivia innocently let Katie wrap it around her neck.

Suddenly, Olivia started going blue and flailing her arms and trying to get the tape off her neck. I rushed to her and pushed Katie away. "What are you doing?!" I screamed. As I caught a barely-conscious falling Olivia in my arms, Katie, too, fell on the floor.

A moment later, a spirit rose out of her with smoke swirling around it.

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**So people…how was the chapter? Hope it was good…and this time I sincerely hope my cliffhanger is a proper one!! And I'm sooooo sorry to say that you might have to wait a while for the next update. Anyway, the only way you can tell me what you think of the chappy is to REVIEW…so press the li'l button already!**

**PGP**


	11. The Spirit

**I'm back with the eleventh chapter…and you guys owe me coz I posted this chappie despite saying that I'd make you wait! I hope everyone likes this chappie!! Please review.**

**-PGP**

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**ELEVEN**

**THE SPIRIT**

**Jason's POV**

At first, the swirling smoke was too thick for me to be able to make out what the spirit looked like, but it soon cleared away so I could clearly make out who was standing in front of me.

Andrea.

Of course. I should have known. What was there to even wonder about?

"AAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!!" I screamed, out of frustration more than anything else. "You bitch! What the hell were you thinking?" Andrea had a bitter smirk on her face. Her mouth broke into a smile. A smile that was neither happy nor sincere, but pure evil.

"You know what," said Andrea. "I've never seen a pair as naïve as you two in my entire life. And death." She laughed at her own joke. "You really thought I'd become 'good', didn't you?" She waggled her index fingers and middle finger for emphasis. I looked at her bitterly, still holding Olivia in my arms. "I never thought even _you_'d turn out to be _such_ a bitch." Andrea's eyebrows went up.

"Whatever. But you must admit that my whole scheme of possessing this," she looked down at Katie's body disdainfully. "_Katie_'s body – was rather genius."

"But…" I stammered out, in spite of myself. "How did you…how did you possess a _live_ body?"

"You really _are _naïve!" Andrea laughed spitefully. "I killed her beforehand, of course!"

I gasped in horror. "What…? For this…inhumane stupid plan of yours…you killed an innocent person?"

"Wellllll," said Andrea. "Sometimes sacrifices must be made. And besides, this girl wasn't the only one I intended to kill. There is one more."

I felt angrier than I ever had. "What?"

"Matt. Matthew McHarbor."

I was confused. I looked down at Olivia in my arms. She was wide awake now, and silently listening to my conversation with Andrea. "What? Who's Matt McHarbor?" I asked, not knowing what the hell Andrea was going on about.

"God, didn't you read the newspaper article on my death?"

"No," I replied stiffly. "I happen to have better things to do in life."

Andrea rolled her eyes. "Okay. Whatever. Matt is my boyfriend. Correction: _was_ my boyfriend. Until he shot me." At this, she got pretty pissed off. I could tell because she had lifted an account book from the counter with her psychic ghost powers and was tearing it into little shreds.

"Yes, but Father Dom," Andrea's face hardened at the mention of Father D's name. "told us how you died. Matt was intoxicated, wasn't he?" God. I'm so tired of vengeful ghosts.

"Yes!" spat Andrea. "Yes! But I _told_ him not to take another tequila shot! He'd already had four! And when I tried to stop him from drinking it, he SHOT me! _SHOT_ ME! SHOT ME FOR TRYING TO STOP HIM FROM DOING THE WRONG THING!" She had gone red and was fuming. The account book was already history, and now Andrea lifted up a whole stand with necklaces hanging off it, and crashed it on the floor. The glass shattered loudly and the necklaces scattered all over the floor.

"Fine," I said, trying not to lose my temper. "I understand why you're pissed off at your stupid boyfriend, but why the hell are you taking out your vengeance on Olivia and me? We try to help you, and this is what you give us in return? Making our lives hell?"

There was silence as Andrea's expression softened the tiniest bit. People were already giving Olivia and me weird looks through the glass door as they passed by the shop – to them, of course, I was yelling at the air – but I couldn't care less.

All of a sudden, without any warning, Andrea dematerialized, her expression turning hard at the last second.

When Andrea was gone, I turned to look down at Olivia again. She was still in my arms. I lifted her and hugged her tightly.

"Are you okay?" I asked, anxiously.

"Yeah," she groaned. "Peachy."

"Listen. C'mon. Let's get home. You need some rest."

"No way," said Olivia, indignantly, sitting up. "I am _not_ ruining my entire day because of that stupid female." She crossed her arms and pouted.

"All right," I laughed, helping Olivia up. We both stood up, and Olivia brushed her pants. I looked at my watch. It was already one, and now that all the hullabaloo was over, I realized how ravenous I was.

"Hey," I said. "Wanna grab hamburgers? I'm starvin'."

**Olivia's POV**

"Sure," I said. "_Yo también_. Let's go to Burger King."

"Yeah," said Jason. "Sounds good."

So basically, we got burgers from Burger King, loafed around the mall and then went home. No kiss, even – the mood was kinda spoiled after Andrea showed up. So not my idea of a perfect date. But I guess beggars can't be choosers.

Jason dropped me off. I rang the doorbell. Mom opened it, I went in with a quiet hi and straight up to my room.

About five minutes later, someone knocked on my door. "Come in!" I called. The door opened, and Mom peeped in. "Hi honey," she said. "Can I come in?" "Yeah," I said, clearing a spot on the bed beside me. "Sure. Come on in!"

Mom smiled, and came down to sit beside me. "Ollie, is everything okay?" she asked gently, using her personal pet name for me, the one she'd been using right from when I was a tiny baby.

"Yeah Mom," I said. "'Course it is. Why'dja ask?"

"Oh," she said, looking relieved and disappointed at the same time, if that's possible. "Just like that. I hope that ghost didn't lay her hands on you again."

"Well," I said, debating whether or not to divulge the truth. I decided not to. I mean it wasn't that I didn't _want_ to. It was just that I was afraid Mom would try do something rash. Again. "No. She seems to be, er, keeping to herself lately."

For a moment, Mom looked skeptical. But I think she decided to buy my story. "All right," she said, laying her palm on my arm softly. "If you want to talk about anything, I'm always available."

"Yeah Mom," I said. "I know you are!"

Mom smiled. "Hey, you know something," she said, thoughtfully. "When I was sixteen, I was a lot like you. Just like you, in fact. Misbelieving. Impulsive. Rash. Thinking with my heart instead of with my head."

"Oh," I said. "Interesting." I eyed her suspiciously. "But that doesn't seem quite possible. You're, like, one of the most particular mum in the whole of USA."

Mom laughed. "I know it seems like that. Now. But if you don't believe me, just ask your father what I was like twenty years back. He'll know."

"Uh-huh," I said. "I think I will. It's pretty interesting to hear his description of people."

Mom smiled. "Yes."

"Mom," I said, suddenly. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Was Dad your only boyfriend? Ever?"

Mom nodded, not looking in the least taken aback, as if she had been expecting me to ask that question. "Yes."

"But how's that _possible_?" I asked. "I mean, just _one_ guy in your entire _life_?"

Mom chuckled. "Now that I think of it," she said. "I think you're right. I _did_ have one other boyfriend. Not to mention another after my life to date me."

"Ooh," I said, grinning. "Two of them, huh?"

"But neither of them was _actually_ my boyfriend. Wait a minute. Why don't you ask your dad? It'll be interesting for me, too – to listen to a description of the sixteen-year-old me and my pursuers from my boyfriend-slash-husband…especially since he was pretty much around the whole time."

"That sounds like a good idea. Today. Dinner table."

"Done."

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**So, wotsay? REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!!!! **

**-PGP**


	12. Nostalgia

**Hey guyyyzzzz**

**Thanks soo much for reviewing last chapter, and sorry for the wait – first I got a bit preoccupied with my three-shot _A Fate Undeserved_ and Drake & Josh fanfic _A Very Mad Monday_, then studies stopped me from sitting at the computer. **

**Anyway, here's the twelfth chappie…and I decided to take a little break from all the action, and make this chapter a light-hearted, family themed one. Enjoy & review…review being the operational word. Just kidding.**

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**TWELVE**

**NOSTALGIA**

**Olivia's POV**

_**Dinnertime**_

"Hey Dad," I said, laying out spoons beside all the dinner plates. He was at the kitchen counter, tossing a salad for dinner.

"Yes, Olivia?" asked Dad, not looking up from his salad.

"I'm going to, er, ask you something at the dinner table. About Mom."

"Why don't you ask me now?" said Dad.

"Wellll…I kinda want it to be a thing between all three of us. That okay?"

"_Por mí, ningún problema_," said Dad.

"'Kay, Daddy."

Finally, we all sat down to dinner. I slowly chewed and swallowed a piece of French bread, then proceeded to say to Dad, "So, Dad, I was saying I wanted to ask you something." I threw a brief glance toward Mom. She gave me a little smile.

"Yes, you did say that. So go ahead and ask me."

"Yep. I wanted to ask you…er…were you Mom's only, um, boyfriend? Ever?" Okay. Somehow, this was _way_, _way, WAY _weird.

Dad, however, looked intrigued. "Why, yes, I think. Wasn't I, Susannah?" He turned to Mom for the latter part of his statement.

Mom looked a bit…abashed. "Well, er, not exactly," she said, wincing a little.

Dad frowned.

"Uh," said Mom, not looking too thrilled to be telling Daddy what she was going to. "Jesse, remember Tad Beaumont?"

Dad's brow crinkled as he tried to remember. Suddenly, he got a look of enlightenment on his face. "Of course! That spoiled rich brat whose father you thought was a vampire!"

Mom looked very, _very_, VERY embarrassed at the mention of the word 'vampire', for some reason. (A/N: You'll know what I'm talking about if you've read the first book!!)

I looked at Mom without turning my head. "Mom. _What_ is Daddy talking about?"

Dad replied before Mom could open her mouth. "Oh, this was Susannah's first bit of trouble when she had newly moved to Carmel from New York," he said. "There was a certain boy called Tad Beaumont whom she, er, spent a lot of time with. She suspected his father was a vampire, but it simply turned out that the poor man had a mental disease." Dad laughed.

"Oh," I said. "I see. And the part about you…er, feeling _threatened_ by this guy?" I continued slyly. "Threatened?" asked Dad, feigning confusion.

At this, Mom jumped up triumphantly and announced, "AH-_HA_!" "Okay, Mom," I said, a little taken aback. "Anyway. Dad, why and how, exactly, did you feel jealous of Tad Beaumont?"

"I'm telling you again," said Dad, sighing. "I did _not_ feel in the least threatened or jealous of Tad Beaumont in any way." He stuffed a piece of chicken in his mouth with a weary look on his face.

Mom still had a triumphant, smug look on her face, her green eyes glowing. "Jesse, Jesse, Jesse. What's the point in denying the truth? You denied it thirty years back. And you're denying it again. But the truth still remains what it is, doesn't it? I still remember your face vividly at the time when Tad kissed me…" Okay, Nostalgia Lane was getting MAJORLY interesting.

"A kiss, eh? Interesting…" I said. Then I looked at Daddy. "It's okay, Dad," I assured him, sensing his obvious discomfort. "Fine," said Dad, grumpily. But I still needed to know the whole story!

I turned to Mom again. "Okay, Mom," I announced, sounding somewhat like a game-show host. "Dad's bailed out. It's up to you to complete the story now!"

Mom remained silent. "Come on, Mom!" I urged. "I thought you guys _enjoyed_ trips down Nostalgia Lane!"

"Well," said Mom, finally, with apparent renewed confidence. "Okay. I had gone to my first party in Carmel. Also my first ever pool party. There, I met this _pretty_ cute –" "–and madly rich, may I add," cut in Dad, smugly.

But Mom simply continued like she hadn't heard Dad. "–guy called Tad Beaumont. I started spending a lot of time with him, which got your dad insanely jealous, even though we weren't yet dating at the time. And then, one night, Tad brought me home in his car, and that was when I received my first ever kiss from him. And that is also the exact moment your father suddenly chose to materialize in the backseat of the car and shoot me an extremely disgusted look. He claimed his so called 'disgust' to be over a manners-and-etiquettes issue from Tad – and still does, I'm sure – but I just _know_ it wasn't that. Jesse was plain as the word JEALOUS." Mom looked like she was relishing every bit of this conversation.

Poor Dad, by now, was looking thoroughly harassed. "_Vale, ite he oído! _I was jealous," he cried. He ran his fingers through his hair at a fast pace, a gesture he often uses when tense or nervous. "But can you blame me? I loved you, _querida_." Awwwww. That is _so_ sweet. "But then, I must comment, your choice in the matter of Tad _was_ understandably disgusting. That boy, completely devoid of common sense. God did not bestow the poor fellow with much brains. _That _you must admit." I laughed.

"Well, yes," said Mom, somewhat grudgingly. "Tad wasn't much of an Einstein, that's true." "Oh-kayyyy," I interrupted. "Sorry to interrupt your, er, _in-depth_ trip through memories, but I really _do_ need to know about the other guy!" I used the term 'other guy' purposely, despite knowing full well that the 'other guy' was Mr. Slater. "Other guy?" asked Dad, innocently. "What other guy? Tad was the only other boy you stepped out with, Susannah, at least as far as I remember…" "Yes, Jesse, but have you forgotten Paul's little love tokens so soon?" said Mom, smilingly.

But Dad's face turned kind of cold. "How could I forget?" Then he muttered something in Spanish. Sure, I could translate for you, but trust me, you're better off not knowing.

"Oh, come off it now, Jesse," said Mom, playfully. "Although the part when you beat him up at the Mission the time he tried to get in my pants is quite unforgettable."

"More unforgettable for him than me, I'm sure," snorted Daddy. "That fellow was extremely stupid back then. Thought he was a god, he did." Then, realizing the 'get in my pants' phrase, he shot Mom a stern look, which she completely ignored.

"But who _is_ 'he', Dad?" " 'He,' " said Dad. "was Paul. Your own _precioso_ Jason's father."

"Daddy," I said, blushing.

"What?" said Dad, matter-of-factly. "He does seem to be your _novio_, now…" (novio means boyfriend)

"Dad, _please_." Okay, on a regular basis, this wouldn't be embarrassing. But being teased about your boyfriend by your _father_? I mean, come on, GET REAL.

"Well," said Mom. "Jesse. Wasn't that memorable? And the time you came to know about the mediator lessons…" Dad looked more disgusted than ever.

"What mediator lessons?" I asked, eagerly. "Temme, Ma!" Mom told me how Mr. Slater made her attend mediator lessons with him in exchange for not zapping Dad away. Which, no offense, sounded pretty rotten. "Then, one day, Paul kissed me at one of the lessons," Mom went on. "Your father, Olivia, was beyond livid. He went quite berserk with rage…it was quite a task, stopping him from going and beating up Paul. But," she said. "Inwardly, although I didn't tell anyone, I was quite pleased that Jesse was so possessive of me." She gazed at Dad fondly, and Dad gazed back. Ick. I HAD to interrupt this. I mean, yeah, I'm glad that my parents love each other a lot and all, but can't they save all this stuff for the bedroom? Seriously.

"Ahem," I said, awkwardly.

I remembered very well what Jason had told me about the little friendship between my mom and his dad, but I didn't exactly expect this 'other guy' to be _Mr. Slater_. Stupid, I know, but true.

"Anyway, Mom," I said, getting up to put my plate and glass in the sink. "I'm glad you fell in love with Dad and not Mr. Slater."

"Well, he was too creepy to be liked back then," replied Mom, her emerald eyes (which I had inherited from her) twinkling. "But anyway. Why do you say that?"

"'Cause if you had gotten married to him, Jason and I would probably have been brother and sister," I said, grimacing at the very thought of such a thing. "Which would have been just too bad."

Mom chuckled.

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**I decided to take a teeny-weeny break from all the action, and so I put in a light-hearted family thing. Hope you guys liked it. But the next chapter will be way more eventful, not to worry!!!!!**

**And a gentle word of warning for my dear readers: IF I DON'T GET AT LEAST 8-10 REVIEWS FOR THIS CHAPPY, THERE WILL BE NO UPDATE FOR A LONG, LONG TIME. So review away…**

**Lurve PGP**


	13. Blackmail

**Hello to all my dear readers… here is the thirteenth chapter of **_**Ghosts Equal to BOYFRIEND-STEALERS!…**_**Hope it's good. **

**REVIEW REPLIES**

_**Sidrah:**_** Heh heh…glad you reviewed anyway!**

_**laurenereads7: **_**Well, I thought that the break from action might not be taken too well by some readers, but I see I was wrong!! Glad you liked the last chappie, and thanks for adding me to your Alert List…I'm flattered! Lol ;)**

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**THIRTEEN **

**BLACKMAIL **

Jason's POV

I can't believe I actually believed Andrea's good-girl behavior. I am so naïve. I mean, how could I ever believe that a bitch like her could actually turn over a new leaf? It's unbelievable, I tell you.

Today, she did something so rotten that I didn't know even _she_ could stoop to. I doing squats in our home gym when she showed up to plague me again.

"Oh no," I said under my breath, when she materialized. "What do you want now?"

"Shut up and listen to me." Andrea replied in a surprisingly snappy tone.

"Stop throwing your attitude in my face and piss off out of our lives. Permanently."

Andrea sneered. "Oh, if your girlfriend's life is so bloody precious to you, you will listen to what I'm saying, pretty boy. And you will listen _carefully_."

I crossed my arms and looked sideward. "Speak," I said, not taking her words too seriously.

But her reply made me jerk my head forward and LISTEN to her. "Unless you go out with me," she smirked smugly. "I will do something to your girlfriend – soon to be _ex_-girlfriend, of course, if you value her life at all – which will make you wish you were never born."

I went pale and grimaced. That bitch. I didn't know how to reply. "WHADDYA WANT!" I screamed finally, absolutely at the end of my patience. She had frustrated me beyond toleration point.

Her calm reply only infuriated me further. "Well, what do I want, you ask? I think my little request is quite simple: I. Want. You. To. Dump. Your. Girlfriend. And. Go. Out. With. _Me_."

"I HATE you!" I screamed. "_Why the hell are you bent on ruining my freaking life_?!"

"Oh," said Andrea, crossing her arms. "I see the li'l problem. So you don't quite have a fondness for me. Well, that, I guess, is just too bad for you. Since you have your girlfriend's life to save and all…"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHH!!!!!!!!!" I shouted, clutching my aching head. Usually, a ghost wouldn't make me go hysterical like this – it wouldn't make me lose control _at all_ – but this was concerning OLIVIA. And the very _thought _of Olivia coming to the littlest harm would do me in.

I was about to tell Andrea to kiss my ass, but then suddenly, for some weird reason, Father Dom's words popped into my head. _If you truly love something, let it go. If it is meant to be, it will come back to you._

"Look," snapped Andrea. "Just do it, okay? And if you tell her why you're dumping her, you can consider that the end for both of you."

By now, my head was throbbing like someone was hammering a nail into my cerebrum. "Fine." I said finally, trying not to sound icy for the sake of Father D. "Give me a week."

"No _way_, José!" Andrea spat. "A week? That is _way_ too much! I am giving you no more than two days. And trust me when I say I'm being generous, at that."

I thought better not to argue, however angry I might be. This totally sucked. "All right. But then don't bother me until the day after tomorrow."

"Fine." Andrea said, icily. "The day after tomorrow. I'll be back. And if you haven't dumped her unt –"

"Shut up," I cut her off. "And disappear. I'll do it."

Andrea turned her nose into the air and dematerialized.

Olivia's POV 

_Next day_

I pranced out of my bedroom into the living room, where Jason was waiting to take me out to the movies. We were going to watch _Blood and Wine_, the coolest new movie on vampires.

"Hey Jas!" I sang, frisking across to Jason and giving him a kiss on the cheek. Okay. You're probably wondering why I'm using words like 'prance' and 'frisk'. Well, a clue: I was HAPPY. I mean, this was the best thing that had ever happened to me in the sixteen years of my life!!!!!!

But when I kissed Jason, he just stared ahead with a stone-cold look on his face, like he was in some kind of a trance. Instantly worried, I asked, "Jason, what's wrong?"

"N-N-Nothing," said Jason, looking at me and putting on a fake smile. "Hi."

I frowned. "Nothing's not wrong," I said. "Tell me, Jason."

"Look," he said. "Everything's fine, okay? Just…let's go."

I sighed. "All right. Let's go."

As we went out to his car, sat and drove towards the cinema, I was still thinking about why he was acting so strange. He barely spoke to me through the journey, which is doubly odd, since neither of us can ever shut up…we're such chatterboxes.

We saw the movie in silence, hardly interacting in any manner. In fact I think the only interaction was "Want some popcorn?" Talk about depressing.

Afterward, we went to the coffee shop in the multiplex to eat something. When we came out, I tried to kiss him, but when our lips were just about to meet, he turned his head away so my lips stopped at his cheek. He quickly dropped my hand, which he had been holding. He pushed his fingers through his hair, looking worried and flustered. "Sorry," he gushed.

I just stared back.

We started for home in the same deafening, horrible silence. Suddenly, the car jerked to a stop. Jason shut his eyes tight, then opened them with his teeth gritted. "Fuck!" he screamed, banging his hand against the steering wheel in anger.

"Jason!" I said, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Nothing," he grumbled. "We're out of gas."

"Oh. Well, the gas station is just a few yards away. Let's push the car."

"Fine."

So we both got out of the car, and went to each taillight. As I was tying up my hair, Jason walked up to me expressionlessly. I doubled my scrunchy around my ponytail for the last time and smiled at him. Suddenly, he surprised me by wrapping his arms around my hips, giving me a gentle but firm push and kissing me with an immense amount of passion. I gripped his tanned neck with both my arms tightly as I kissed back. He clutched me harder and lifted me off the ground.

Finally, after at least a whole minute, he released me. We were both breathing hard.

"I love you." I said, suddenly.

Jason stared at me. "I…I love you, too."

I smiled and melted into his waiting arms. "Oh, Jason."

He kissed my forehead softly.

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**So…positive or negative???? Either way, kindly review.**


	14. Why is Life Such a Bitch?

**Hey peeps!!**

**Here is the fourteenth chapter…hope it's good. And you guys hardly reviewed for the last chapter... :( ... Please do review this chapter...I know this chappie's a bit short, but the next chapp will be much longer, I promise. If you review. Ha ha ha ha**

**REVIEW REPLIES**

**_laurenereads7: _Well honestly…I thought of the whole Suze-&-Jesse-helping-them-to-fight-off-Andrea thing before you even suggested it (it was one of the first ideas to pop into my mind), but in the end, the idea of just Olivia and Jason taking care of it sounded more appealing. Anyway, thanks for the idea & support! And do keep the ideas comin'…I might just use one of them!! ;)**

**_grapesandoats: _In answer to your question…well, all I'll say is – "chuckle chuckle chuckle"…MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!! ;D**

**_Angel.by.day-Devil.by.night:_ Heheh…I knowww!!! It was especially sadder coz they had just said the L word for the first time! Anyway…read on...**

**

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**

**FOURTEEN**

**WHY IS LIFE SUCH A BITCH?**

Olivia's POV

_Monday morning…on the way to school_

"Hey," I said. "What's up?"

"Nothing much."

Strangely enough, Jason's weird behavior had returned after our little game near the taillights of his BMW. He barely spoke, only gave two to three word replies when spoken to. I was beginning to suspect there was something seriously wrong.

When we got off at school, Jason said he'd see me after school.

_After school, in Jason's car, parked outside the de Silvas'_

Jason sighed.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, still concerned.

"About that…" said Jason. "Olivia, we need to talk."

I went stiff for reasons unknown to me. "Yeah?"

"Look…I don't know how to break this to you, but…this isn't working out."

I was confused. "What do you mean?" Then suddenly, understanding dawned on me. "Are…are you _breaking_ _up_ with me?"

Jason opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off by holding up my palm, tears already stinging my eyes. I opened the door of the car and hurried away.

"Olivia!" Jason cried after me, getting out of the car and running behind me. But I ran into the house before he could catch up with me, and banged the door shut behind me. Then I sank down to the floor and cried.

Mom came rushing out into the living room from inside. One look at me, and she charged towards me.

"Olivia! What's wrong?!"

I could only shake my head and cry harder. I buried my face into my palms.

"Honey!" said Mom. "Get up."

She held me up as I hiccupped, unable to stop myself from bursting into a fresh set of sobs. She gave me a big hug.

"Sshh," she said, gently. "Calm down, baby."

I nodded to show I was trying. Finally, after a good deal of time – which Mom patiently waited out for me – I managed to speak. Or rather s_qu_eak. "Mommy," I said, feeling like a little child again. "Mommy!"

"Yes, baby," Mom said, patiently. "Tell me. What's the matter?"

"H-he…"

"Yes?"

"H-he…b-b-broke up…with me!" This caused me to start weeping all over again.

"What?" said Mom, looking totally taken aback. "What do you mean, Ollie? Do you mean…_Jason_?"

In reply, I buried my face into my palms again and sobbed harder. Mom seemed to understand that this meant yes.

"But…" said Mom. "He seemed so affectionate towards you!"

I looked up at her with red eyes. "M-Mom…that's what I d-don't und-understand! He kissed me just yesterday!"

"Well," sighed Mom. "Males were never understandable, were they?"

I couldn't reply. I collapsed into my mother's arms. Hugging her tightly, I mumbled, "I hate Jason."

Jason's POV 

"What happened?" said Andrea, fake-sweetly, appearing in front of me. I had called on her.

"Are you happy now?" I said gruffly. "I broke up with her."

"Ah." Andrea beamed. "Of course."

"But I'm telling you now, you witch," I hissed. "Don't you dare expect me to stay completely away from her. I will never let her friendship go for the world."

Andrea laughed spitefully. "Ha. If there _is_ any friendship left between you two, that is."

"Shut up," I snarled. "And get lost."

"About that." Andrea said. "You seem to be forgetting the latter half of our little…deal."

"What?!"

"Let me remind you of the details of our agreement. You had agreed that in exchange for your girlfriend's welfare, you would dump her. Which you did. And after that, you were supposed to go out with _me_."

I looked at her bitterly. She cracked another a spiteful smile.

"I got the DVD of _Shawshank Redemption_. Wanna watch it?"

"And where did you get it? Oh. Shoplifting, I suppose."

"Spot on right, lover-boy."

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**I'm so totally enjoying penning an über-bitch like Andrea!! Hope I'm doing a good job making her the most hateful person ever!!**

**And well…I haven't ever experienced a heartbreak (I've never had a **_**boyfriend**_** to begin with…), so I was writing Olivia's reaction to The Breakup purely out of movie-reference (**_**nooo!!…**_**I haven't seen the movie starring Jennifer Aniston & Vince Vaughn!), and guesswork. I hope I made it believable enough…I mean a girl would wail like she did if the love of her life dumped her, right?**

**Anywho…please review…I'd really **_**really**_** REALLY **_**REALLY**_** love you guys if I could touch the 60-mark within the next 2-3 chapters. And by the end of the story – well – I'm aspiring to touch the Century, at least. SO PLEASE HELP MEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!! Love you guys!! )**

**--PGP-- **


	15. The Big Green J

**YAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!! flourish of cornets and big boom on the microphone **

**MY HIATUS IS FINALLY OVER!!!!!!!! I'M SOOOOO HAPPY!!**

**Gosh…it feels great to be back to good ole FF! **

**So anyway…thanks for holdin' your horses for the next update guys, and hoping to look at a lot of reviews.**

**Fifteen**

**THE BIG GREEN J**

Third Person's POV 

Since her breakup with Jason, Olivia had practically become a zombie. She hardly talked – the girl who originally had trouble shutting up for thirty seconds – or ate anything at all. The other day, Jesse cooked a full Chinese dinner – and Olivia can live her life out on Chinese food, especially Jesse's – and Olivia barely even touched it.

This wasn't Olivia's first heartbreak, either. She had already dated a few guys, and at each breakup, she just became a little less talkative for a maximum of 24 hours, and then returned to normal like nothing had ever happened.

But that was because she had never been in a relationship with a guy she cared for as deeply as she did for Jason. She had never known the same – or even a _similar_ – affection for any other man.

But that man who she had loved so much had broken her heart for no apparent reason. _And for that, it was time he paid._

**Olivia's POV**

_**Some weekday, at school**_

"Hey!" I said cheerily to Shane Marten, the school football team halfback's fraternal twin brother. "Could I sit next to you?" Shane gave me a brief weird look, then said, "Yeah, sure." So I pulled up the chair and sat down.

Although he's Hunter's twin, they are absolutely nothing like each other. For one important difference, Shane had jet black hair and was gorgeous, and Hunter was well…not hot. Shane has a tiny diamond stud in his ear, and always gels his quite-short hair in a way it looks cool. Okay, okay! So I had only just noticed. But hey…cut me some slack! I was always too busy staring at Jason to ever look at any other guy.

It was Geometry, one of the classes Jason and I had together.

Jason walked into the class just as I sat down. And, funnily enough, his gaze flickered to me the first thing when he took his seat. But I didn't pay much attention to that.

Almost immediately after him, Sister Hayden, our Geometry teacher, walked into the class, setting her textbooks down on to the teacher's table in her usual thumpy, violent manner. Everyone stood up, bored. "Good morning, Sister," the class chorused sleepily. "Good morning, please sit down," Sister Hayden said in her sharp, nasal voice. "We are going to be doing an exercise on Limits today, so please open your textbooks to page number 349."

I yawned, discreetly slipping my textbook into my desk. Then I slowly shifted my chair a little closer to Shane's and tapped him on the shoulder. "Shane," I whispered. "I, uh, don't have my book. Could you share yours with me?" Shane raised an eyebrow and nodded, pushing his textbook towards me. "Thanks." I winked, thankful he hadn't noticed me slipping my book into the desk.

For the next forty-five minutes, I kept throwing occasional glances towards Jason, who always seemed to be looking at me, immediately looked away as soon as my gaze landed on his. This happened roughly five times through the class.

Every time I knew he was looking at me, I'd smile at Shane, or lean in a little closer. Shane didn't seem to mind. But each time, my heart sank a little more and I sighed inside. A little voice in the corner of my brain spoke, _Olivia, what are you doing? Trying to make Jason feel jealous? That's not correct. Don't do it!_

But another, louder voice – presumably my pride – stamped down the little voice called conscience. _**To hell with 'it's not correct'! Olivia, you've got to do what you've got to do. He ripped your heart out of your chest and smeared it right in your face. Is THAT forgivable? Go on! Make him feel as bad as possible! Make him PAY for what he did to you!**_

_No Olivia! Don't listen to that nonsense! You still love him. A LOT. And you don't hurt the ones you love!_

Finally, as usual in everyone's story, the louder voice won. "No!" I squeaked to myself. Shane gave me a weird look. I grinned sheepishly. "I'm okay." Shane nodded and went back to drawing the inferno-like design with his pen across the empty page of his Geometry notebook. I peeped into his book. "Um," I said, trying to think of something to say. "…Nice design." "Uh, thanks," said Shane, actually _smiling_. I realized then that he had a very nice smile, like with perfectly aligned pearly-white teeth and everything. But not nearly as nice as Jason's.

God, what is _with _me!?

**Jason's POV**

Olivia was acting too weird for words today at school. She was sitting with _Shane Marten_, and, like, totally close to him. She was even sharing textbooks with him. I didn't even know how to react when I saw her own textbook in her desk.

I hated to admit it, but I guess Andrea was actually right…maybe there _isn't _any friendship left between Olivia me and after all.

**OK people I'm sorry this chapter was kinda short…I promise the next one will be longer. And don't forget to review!**

**PGP**


	16. No Reason

**Aww….I'd like to thank:**

_**1) inzie23**_

_**2) writerluv **_

_**3) querida1607 **_

_**4) laurenereads7 **_

_**5) Xx Tohru xXx Seraphina xX**_

_**6) Jesse's Querida Forever **_

**Sorry to those reviewers whose names haven't been included in the credits…I was too lazy to sift through my inbox again to find the other names…but ya'll know who I'm referring to. Anyway…I love you guys for reviewing me so nicely, & I AM EXTREMELY SORRY ABOUT TAKING SO MUCH TIME TO UPDATE.**

**I have no idea why I named this chapter 'No Reason'. Seriously. Anyway...PLEASE REVIEW after reading.**

**xoxo–PGP–xoxo**

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CHAPTER SIXTEEN

**_NO REASON_**

**Jason's POV**

This is getting more and more frustrating day by day. Everyday I come home from school with a whole load of homework. I slog the entire evening on my stupid studies. And then all the while I have to put up with that stupid skank Andrea.

She just loves to call herself my girlfriend. Ha-di-bloody-ha. That makes me want to hurl all over her snotty face. Wish I could.

She always knows when I'm leaving from school, so as soon as I sit in my car and start it up, she immediately pops up beside me in the passenger seat and starts babbling away about something dumb like the new eyeliner MAC has launched which is _just_ for fifty bucks.

Yesterday, I tried avoiding her chatter by offering how many ever friends of mine I could cram into my convertible, a ride home after school. I called Kyle Derek, Tyson Janson, Gray Smith, John Yamasaki, Brian McTavish and a couple more guys.

But my seemingly brilliant plan pretty much backfired, instead earning me a lot of comments like "Jeez, Slater, I'm outta your car! It's freaky!" "Um, I just remembered I gotta pick up my sis from an…uh…party. Bye Slater!", and then my friends hopping right out of the car and scrambling away.

But of course, this was all on account of Andrea hopping all over my car and giving my pals wedgies and blowing air down their necks.

Then later on, she proceeded to give me a very smug smirk. Bitch.

A couple of days later 

Father Dominic called for me today smack dab in the middle of World Civ. Not that I'm complaining. I mean, Mr. Nichols isn't exactly my hot-favorite teacher.

I dragged myself to Father D's office.

"Come inside Jason," he said without even looking up from his paperwork, when I peeked in. I went in and sat on the chair.

"What's up, Father?" I asked, dumping my books in front of me on the table.

"Nothing special, Jason," said Father D, still looking engrossed in whatever he was doing. "I just called you in to enquire about how things are going with Miss Titian."

At first, this name didn't strike a chord, but then I realized he was talking about Andrea. "Um, okay, Father D."

"So, what is happening?" asked Father D, finally looking up. "I hope everything is fine."

"Uh…" I don't usually share much with Father D, especially in ghost-busting matters. But right now, there didn't seem to be much choice left in the matter but to spill everything to Father D and ask him what the heck I should do.

So I basically ended up vomiting out the happenings of the past couple of months to a very astonished-looking Father D.

"…so now she's not willing to let go for anything, and she's blackmailing me that she'll do something to Olivia if I try to wriggle out of this!" I finished.

Father Dom looked at me briefly and drew in a deep breath and sighed.

"All right, Jason," he said, finally.

"Okay, so what should I do, Father!?" I said kind of impatiently.

"Fine. Firstly I'd like to know, er…" he trailed off uncomfortably.

"Yeah, Father? What do you want to know?"

"Have you…um…done anything with Andrea?" But I swear, the way he said it, it sounded like "doneanythingwithAndrea?"

"No sir! What do you mean!" I said, almost indignantly.

"All right!" said Father D, looking so het up it was almost comical. "There's no need to get worked up! I was only asking." Then he fell silent for a few minutes.

Finally, I broke the silence. "Uh, Father?" I said. "So…what should I do now? Because I'm basically trapped in this whole situation,"

"Well," said Father D, looking as if he had given the issue a great deal of thought. Which, knowing him, he probably had. "I think you should try sending Andrea Titian to me for a little talk. I might be able to conv –"

"Father!" I cried. "That is the last thing you should think of! This attempt is going to turn out to be a total dud, I can bet you on a thousand dollars, because: (a) she hates you and (b) talking isn't going to drill anything into her ultra-thick skull!" By now, I was practically shouting.

"Jason," said Father D in that infuriatingly calm way of his. "Please sit down." I realized that I was standing up now, so I sat down again.

Father D breathed in deeply. "All right. Firstly, Jason, it is not correct to gamble," he said dryly. "And secondly, nothing is going to come of being so worked up about this whole problem."

"Yes'r," I said, exhaling. "Can I leave now?"

"Oh," said Father D, not looking offended or anything, but sort of taken aback. "Very well. But if you need me, I'm always ready to help and you know that, Jason."

"Bye Father."

**Olivia's POV**

I twirled in front of the mirror, looking at my black skinny jeans and white T-shirt with silver graffiti, and giving myself one last spritz of perfume. Hmm…good enough.

My cell phone rang out the up-tempoed version of _Behind These Hazel Eyes _by Kelly Clarkson, my favorite singer, and I picked it up to see SHANE flashing on the screen with his picture by the side. I waited for a moment – I don't know what for – and pressed receive.

"Hello?"

"Hey Olivia. You ready?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm reachin' your place in a coupla minutes."

"'Kay. You didn't get lost or anything?"

"No, why?"

"No, just asking. See ya in a few minutes. Bye."

"Right. I'll give you a missed call when I'm there. See ya."

Sure enough, my cell phone rang for about five seconds a few minutes later, and stopped. I gave my hair one last pat (I know, I know) and went down the stairs and out the door. There was no one home to question me, since Dad was out at his clinic and Mom had decided to jet off for one of her many shopping sprees with her best friend Mrs. McTavish.

As I opened the door, I saw Shane's car gleaming in the sun. Well, not exactly _gleaming_, since it was a simple black Honda City which didn't quite have the shine of a certain silver BMW convertible. No comments allowed.

I stepped down from the porch and opened the passenger door and sat inside the car. _Nothing Else Matters_ by Metallica was blasted on the speakers, and Shane immediately lowered the volume when I got into the car.

"Hiya," I said, slipping my silver Moto Razr phone into my pocket then looking up.

"Hey," said Shane.

"So where have you planned to take us?"

"Well, I was thinking, how about catching _The Perfect Shot_ at the movies then grabbing an ice cream?"

"Sounds good," I replied. "Except, maybe, could we change the movie?"

"Okay. Which one would you like to watch?"

"Mmm…let's get there and decide."

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**Wellll??? makes adorable puppy-dog eyes **

**You might wonder why I ask you to review. Well, the answer: It makes me happy. And happy writers make faster and better stories. Mwahahaha.**


	17. Olivia Uncensored

**Hey guys, thanks for reviewing the last chappie! Love y'all! Enjoy seventeen. It's my baby. lol ;-D**

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_CHAPTER SEVENTEEN_

**OLIVIA UNCENSORED**

**Olivia's POV**

The date with Shane was quite regular…nothing out of the ordinary. NOT.

We didn't go to the regular movies, but instead to this place called Your Moviez, where there are about ten little movie booths with place for two in each. You can hire it at eight bucks an hour, and they'll screen whichever movie you like for you. They must be having at least a hundred thousand movies out there, no kidding.

So we went there and watched _Mean Girls_. I suggested it out of pure not-knowing-what-else-to-say, and Shane surprised me by agreeing to it and asking the guy at the counter to screen it.

The movie was about twenty minutes gone, when Shane very slowly and precariously wrapped his arm around my back. I just looked at him and gave him this weird smile, but not in a bad way – just weird. And then two seconds later, just like that, we were kissing. Okay, maybe not _just_ like that. Maybe it might have something – okay, a _lot_ – to do with me grabbing a handful of his shirt and pulling him to me.

And, okay, let me tell you this, Shane Marten is a phenomenal kisser. I mean, he practically made me forget every damn problem playing on my mind, and just kissed the hell out of me. And I, not being one to be left out of this heart-stopping match of tonsil hockey, was, like, totally participating. A lot. Especially since _I _was the one who _initiated _the kiss.

And I didn't even care about the movie going by or whatever, since I had already seen it roughly a hundred million times.

We must have made out for fifteen minutes straight. No kidding. And I may sound desperate here, but I seriously wouldn't have minded s'more, he was such a great kisser.

"O…Ol…Olivia…" gasped Shane.

I, not being capable of saying a single comprehendable word, only stared at him.

"Olivia," Shane repeated after a minute, this time, his voice sounding more stable. "A-Are you, er, sure you want this?"

"Sure," I was quick to reply. "What do you mean 'am I sure I want this'? Sure I do!" I sounded almost indignant.

Shane replied reluctantly, looking taken aback. "Well, uh, then…"

"Yeah?"

"I guess…are we, um, official?"

I stopped for a moment before answering. Then I settled into my seat comfortably. "Yes." I said. "We're official."

**Jason's POV**

_(Monday afternoon)_

I was busy dozing off in Chemistry when I felt the person behind me – Phoebe the cheerleader and Olivia's sort-of-best-friend – tap my shoulder and pass a note to me under the chair.

I woke up quickly and took the note. I opened it.

_Jason,_

_I have to tell you something. Urgent. Meet me outside the class once Chem's over._

_Phe-B._

I scribbled an 'OK' on the back of the note and passed it back to Phoebe.

_(After Chemistry)_

I lazily walked out of class after Chemistry to find Phoebe waiting outside for me.

"Jason!" she whispered urgently. "Hurry!"

"Yeah." I walked towards her a little faster. "What's up?"

"Okay…I had to tell you somehow…ahem…Olivia's got herself a new boyfriend."

I woke up PROPERLY when she said this. "WHAT?"

"Yeah, you got me right."

"Who is it!?"

"Shane Marten."

"What!!?!? Hunter's brother?"

"Yes."

"W-When did this happen?"

"This weekend…they went to Your Moviez and…"

"And?"

"And, uh…okay, maybe I shouldn't tell you this part."

"Tell me!" I said, almost threateningly. Sure enough, Phoebe looked scared-ish.

"Chill! They made out. And now Olivia says that they're an item."

"Oh God…Are you sure of this, Phoebe?"

"Well, it's what Olivia says. And I kinda noticed that Shane's been acting all lovey-dovey towards her since today. You know, staring at her in that way and everything. He even gave her a red rose."

"Oh man…"

"Well, I didn't quite know why I was inclined to tell you this, but…Oh man! – you still like her, right?"

"I…um…"

"I know you do, Jason. It's obvious."

"Fine, fine, you got me. I do…still like her. A lot."

"Then why did you break up with her?" Phoebe looked confused by this aspect of the story.

"It's…it's complicated," I said, and ran away from there.

**Olivia's POV**

I was walking in the corridor, leaving English class to get to my next class.

Suddenly, I felt someone catch hold of me, put a hand across my mouth and drag me away.

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**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!!!!! I'LL LOVE YOU 4EVA! (if forever defines 'one moment'. lol. Juuuust kidding. NOW REVIEW!)**

**OK, I'm being pushy. But I still want that review from you. Ha.**


	18. The Dragger Away

**Hiya…I'm very sorry for the long wait, guys. But I've got a heap of studies hanging over my hed now that my 3-week school vacation is over, so I hardly get time to access my computer…in fact most of the stuff I've put up in the last month or two has all been handwritten and then typed up, because I have so little computer time. Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to my most regular reviewers. You rock, guys! ––**

**1) PieciesHateScorpios**

**2) Xx Tohru xXx Seraphina xX**

**3) Querida 1607**

**4) writerluv**

**5) laurenereads7**

**6) inzie23**

**Lol, and congratulations to the people who correctly guessed the person who dragged away Olivia!**

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_CHAPTER EIGHTEEN_

**THE DRAGGER-AWAY**

**Olivia's POV**

"MMMMMM!!!!" I shrieked. Or at least tried to shriek, given that all that was coming of my vocal efforts was a muffled sound, thanks to my mouth being covered by a hand.

"Sshh!" the voice my dragger-away shushed me after releasing me in a corridor where there was nobody but the two of us. I turned around and gasped (reflex reaction!). Who was it? Friends, standing over me in all his über-hot glory, was no one else but Jason. Oops.

My eyes widened. But before I could completely recover from the shock, Jason only shocked me further – basically, shocked the daylights out of me – by grabbing my shoulders, giving me a pull and laying his lips over mine.

I almost gave into the temptation of kissing him back, but with every ounce of willpower in my body I could muster, I laid my palms against his chest and pushed with what I might venture to call, slight force.

Jason stumbled back – not because of use of excess force by me or anything, but, I'm guessing, out of surprise.

"_Dios_!" I shouted, wiping my mouth with the back of my wrist in a weak attempt to stop the fierce tingling sensation in my lips.

We were both breathing hard.

"What did you do THAT for!?" Jason cried at me.

"Well!" I said, somewhat indignantly. "Excuse me, but I believe _I _would be a more appropriate person to be asking that question!"

"I…"

I looked aside with what I assume was a hostile expression on my face.

"I…I…still love you, Olivia."

Unable to digest this information, I exclaimed reflexively in Spanish, "_¿Qué¿Estás LOCA?_"

"Yes Olivia I _am_ crazy…about _you_."

"Okay, I'm sorry," I managed to say after a few moments. "But _you _broke it off with _me_."

"Yeah…I _know_."

"Whaddyu mean 'I _know_'!? You're saying that you _KNOW_ AFTER DUMPING ME!?"

"Olivia."

"Okay, I am not gonna get back with you all happily just to get dumped all over again, and besides –"

"Olivia."

"– I happen to be dating someone else now, okay! I'm completely _over _you and I –"

"OLIVIA!"

"WHAT!"

"Please. Listen to me."

"Why?! Why should I listen to you!"

"Please…just give me a chance…let me say what I have to, then you can decide whether you care or not…"

In answer, I placed my hands on my hips and cocked my head to one side, doing my best to look elsewhere.

"All right, look, all I'm asking you for is to come over to my place today after school. We need to sort out some stuff."

At that moment, I was so riled up that I almost screamed "Don't you UNDERSTAND? It's OVER!" at him and stomped off. But I still had sufficient brainpower left to realize that if I did this, I'd only appear like an immature freak. Which I am not, b.t.w.

"I…all right." I sighed, realizing that this screaming spree I had gone on, had left me with very little energy. So I decided against being aggressive, which I would dearly have liked to do.

"Thanks so much, Ol," said Jason, looking positively ecstatic. "You don't know how important this is."

"Yeah," I said. "It had better be, coz I'm bunking cheerleading practice for this."

I know, I know. I was being purposefully pricey. I really, really wanted to go.

"Please Phoebs!" I begged Phoebe. "It's just one day! I know you can handle it! Come on…"

"Handling it is besides the point, Ol. I wanna know why you're so freakin' desperate to skip."

"Phoebs, please, trust me…"

Phoebe sighed and looked aside. "Fine," she finally sighed.

"Yay!" I said, hugging her. "Thanks Phoebs! You're the best BFF ever!"

She hugged me back feebly.

**_Jason's place_**

"Hey," said Jason cheerily, opening the door.

"Hi." I replied expressionlessly, still standing on the doorstep.

"Um…come inside."

I stepped in and removed my Jimmy Choos.

"Okay," I said. "Can we make this quick, please? I can't be long." Well, the truth is, I only said that because I couldn't contain my curiosity. Ssshh.

"Yeah sure," Jason replied. "Come on into my room."

I followed him inside.

Once we were inside his bedroom, Jason carefully shut and locked the room. Then he shut his eyes and screwed up hisa face like he was thinking very hard about something. Suddenly, this big white virtual-looking bubble appeared around the two of us.

"Hey!" I said, confused. "What's going on?"

"Relax," said Jason, taking another step closer to me. "It's a barrier…a sort of protective bubble which completely conceals us from ghosts."

Okay, I admit that was kinda cool, but I was still taken aback. "Wh-why? And who taught you."

"Chill, Olivia. Dad taught me." Of course…I should have known. I mean, Mr. Slater's a big-time shifter and he's totally into these 'fancy tricks' as Mom calls them. "And you'll know why once I tell you the whole story.

**Jason's POV**

Dad had only been too happy to teach me how to create the ghost barrier. In fact, he didn't even bother asking why, he was so euphoric that I was finally taking interest. And I didn't say anything, _I _was so euphoric that I had finally found a way of unloading everything to Olivia.

After I told Olivia everything, it felt just like what I had imagined – like a fifty-ton sack of bricks had been lifted off of my shoulders – only about twenty times better.

As for Olivia, she just looked…flabbergasted. And stood there. Her eyes were as wide as Mom's largest dinner plates.

After a long silence, she finally muttered, "Whoa."

"Exactly," I said. "'Whoa.'"

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**I hope liked the chapter VERY VERY much…(I won't say more)…**


	19. Pillow Fight

**Okay, now all the forthcoming chapters of GEBFS are dedicated to these awesome people!! (If anyone else becomes a regular reviewer, I'll add their name to the list…ha…ha…ha…)**

**writerluv**

**Xx Tohru xXx Seraphina xX**

**PieciesHateScorpios**

**laurenereads7**

**inzie23**

**And hey people...was the last chapter not good or something? Coz I got only a few reviews… Please guys, review, at least to tell me what's wrong!**

**P.S.: ALL YOU INDIANS OUT THERE, TELL ME WHO SAW **_**SAAWARIYA **_**OR **_**OM SHANTI OM**_** OR **_**GOAL **_**(& what you thought about Ranbir Kapoor [I say: HOTTIE! and Shah Rukh Khan's six-pack [umm…. John Abraham, as usual, looked awesome, right!!) GO ON, DROP ME A P.M….**

**Anywho, do ya'll want Olivia and Jason back together?? You might say 'That question should have been asked last chapter,' but this chapter does not revolve around O & J…hee hee hee ;D. Oh, it's fluff all right, but it's S** x** J!…**

**And whoever is thinking that GEBFS is near-ending, a big shout-out to you: IT'S NOT!!!! Oh, in fact, it's only just beginning! OK, maybe not **_**beginning**_**, but definitely it isn't anywhere near the ending!! So read and review away…**

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_CHAPTER NINETEEN_

**P I L L O W F I G H T **

**Jesse's POV**

"Jesse?" said _mi querida _Susannah, as we sat together on the couch, watching television. She was cuddled into me and was resting her head on my chest. I had taken an off-day, just to be home for a change.

"Yes, Susannah?"

"Let's go up to the room. I'm getting bored here."

"Why? Don't you like the movie?" I asked.

"No, it's not that. I'm…just not in the mood of watching TV."

"Well, all right…as you wish, _querida_."

So we switched off the TV and went up to our bedroom.

"I'll be back in a second," said Susannah, going into the bathroom. Two minutes later, she came out in a small lilac satin slip-dress…the same one she wore on the night of our honeymoon. Amazingly, she has managed to stay in very good shape even after giving birth to Olivia, and I don't think there was much difference between her now and how she used to be back when I was still a ghost.

"Well…" I said. "What's this, _querida_?"

"Oh, I just felt like it," she said softly, coming and sitting down on the bed next to me. She rested her head on my shoulder the way she always does when she's feeling like being loved. I kissed the top of her head affectionately and wrapped my arms around her.

"You remember when we first met?" said Susannah, suddenly.

"Why, yes," I replied. "Of course. How could I forget? And you weren't exactly friendly, were you…"

"Well! I had jet lag, okay!" protested Susannah. "And jet lag makes you very cranky."

"Oh, all right…if you say so." I was in no mood of arguing with Susannah. I was just feeling so tranquil and calm at that time…and I did not want to break that.

For a while, we simply sat there like that for sometime, her head leaning against my shoulder, and my arms around her. I loved it. I love Susannah so much. She is perfect…and I am so happy that Olivia is so similar to her in so many ways. Susannah, though, says she is exactly like me. But as far as I see, Olivia's appearance and knowledge of the Spanish language are the only things much like me…her behavior and way of living is just like her mother's. She is nearly a replicate of how Susannah used to be as a sixteen-year-old girl – headstrong, decisive, intelligent and a tad rash. And yes, she hates it when someone tries to control her.

"Susannah," I said, finally breaking the silence. "Do you want to have a pillow fight?"

"Why," she said, looking as if she considered it for a moment first. "Certainly! It's been ages since we had one…" she quietly reached out and took hold of a pillow from behind us.

Suddenly, she thwacked me on the back of my hand with the pillow in one hand, and jumped out of our embrace, tittering mirthfully.

"Oh…" I said, smiling. "Let's fight, then!" I, too, grabbed a pillow and tried to land a blow on Susannah, but she put her pillow in front of her face, giggling like a little girl.

Soon, we were involved in a full-blown pillow fight, trying to get each other, with feathers flying all over the place.

Finally, I managed to get Susannah from the back, and – caught somewhat off-guard – she landed face-first into the soft bed with a "Mwph!" sound, immediately turning over and grinning at me.

"That got me all right!" she admitted, breathing hard and still smiling. She caught her breath and sat up. She held her hands out invitingly. "C'mere, Jesse," she purred.

I lifted her up, enveloped her in an affectionate hug and covered her lips with mine.

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**Oooo…Innocent Suze/Jesse fluff! Cho chweet!! OK, I don't know how many reviews to expect…But I hope you guys liked this chappie. P.S.: Please don't kill me for making this chapter short… makes puppy-eyes (IRRESISTABLE ADORABLE) **

**Lurve**

**PGP _xoxo_ **


	20. Sneak Out

**Eeeeeeeeeeps!!! I CANNOT believe GEBFS has already hit 20 chapters & 7 months! Wow…it still seems like such a recent fanfic!**

**OK, and so sorry for the last chapter…I don't know why I put it up even though I know I suck at writing fluff! But I won't do it again. Sorry.**

**Love you all, guys!!!! Keep reviewing!**

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_CHAPTER TWENTY_

**SNEAK OUT**

**Olivia's POV**

I carefully skipped the seventh stair as I snuck down the stairway – it creaks like an injured monkey. Once I was down the stairs, I quickly looked around once to make sure Mom or Dad weren't around. They weren't. Perfect.

I was in full-on black gear, complete with Mom's old leather jacket and her ghost-busting gloves (which I had kind of nicked – er, _borrowed_ – from her room when she was in the bathroom). It helped that my hair were black too. Great night camouflage.

I carefully opened the front door and let myself out, gently shutting the door behind me. I ran across the driveway – with non-squeaky sneakers for a change, as I had worn my foam-soled Nikes – and got into my car. Before starting off for the Slaters' place, I looked around one last time to make sure there was no one around.

When I reached the Slaters', I quickly texted Jason to come down. He was down within a minute, looking hotter than ever, in black gear like me, carrying a small backpack with him. I smiled, but quickly removed the smile from my face before Jason saw me.

"Hey," he said, slipping into the passenger seat beside me.

"Hi." I started the car and started driving.

"So…feels great to sneak out again, doesn't it? How long has it been?"

"Six months."

"Whoa…that long? No kidding!"

"Yeah."

"Anyway…it's good to be back in gear!"

"I guess."

"Uh…okay."

Then there was silence for a while, as we silently drove towards the Mission, my gaze fixed on the road ahead. I seriously have no idea what was going on.

"Olivia?" said Jason, finally breaking the awkward and terse silence.

"Yeah?" I replied, my eyes still stubbornly rooted to the road.

"Look…you, uh,do know I still like you, right?"

The 'love' was down to a 'like'?… But I didn't say that. Instead, I just remained silent. Not to appear angry or something, but I guess I didn't exactly know what to say.

When I didn't reply, Jason tried again. "I wanna get back together."

"But I thought my life was in danger."

"Well, yes…but we can…keep it under wraps…"

"Jason, look, let's just finish off the job, then we can discuss this."

"I…all right."

The rest of the journey passed in silence.

**Jason's POV**

When we got there, we got off the quickly, eager to proceed with the night's activities. We walked toward the Mission church.

Okay, you might ask "The _church_?" Well, the selection of location is because during his many, many hour-long speeches on mediating to us, he has always managed to mention "If you absolutely MUST perform an exorcism – which, of course, has to be reserved as THE LAST RESORT in ANY case – then you should at least do it in the presence of God, in a holy place."

In fact, Olivia told me that once, when Dr. de Silva had gotten exorcised because of his vengeful ex-fiancée (brrr…that sounds scary), Mrs. de Silva had tried to exorcise herself to save him (aw…true love) with the help of Uncle Jack, Dad's younger brother. But Father D had caught them, and had tried to talk her out of it (hah…tried to bang his head against his wall, I mean) but of course, _she _ended up convincing _him _instead. But then Father D made Mrs. S do it in the church, even though _her _exorcism was for a perfectly good reason. So obviously he'd want us to do our dirty job in the church, since according to him, this wouldn't even be for a good reason.

So basically, this whole thing was being done to pacify Father D. Even if he didn't quite know about it. But still.

We went into the church, where I took out the stuff packed in my backpack – about fifteen white candles, a matchbox and an old Portuguese scripture (nicked from Dad's humongous library after three hours of very concentrated searching).

Then I shifted back some of the benches to make space and arranged the candles in a spread-out circle.

Olivia's POV 

After Jason was done with the candles, I carefully hid myself behind one of the pushed-back benches, and gave Jason the thumbs-up.

Jason's face was overtaken by a look of concentration, although this time, his eyes w ere open. Sure enough, in the middle of the circle of candles, a spirit with long blond hair and a red party dress materialized.

"What the hell! It's one o'-fucking-clock in the night! Nice way to disturb a spirit!" she yelled, sourpuss bitch that she is. Hmph.

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_**Soooo??? **_**No more busting Andrea if at least 6 reviews don't come in… (flutters eyelashes oh-so-innocently…)**


	21. What Happened Next

**Hey guys**

**Chapter 21 is finally here!**

**And everyone, I strongly recommend you check out Stark Raving Lolly's forum The Monthly Mediator Writing Challenge!! It's kick-starting on Jan 1st 2008…and I'm WAITING for that day!!!!!!!**

**Anyway…let's get on with the story. Please review.**

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**Chapter Twenty-One**

_**WHAT HAPPENED NEXT**_

****

"Shut up, Andrea," I said irritably, reacting to Andrea's complaint of being called on at one in the morning. "It's not like you sleep anyway. Forgot you're _dead_?"

"I guess so," she replied, seeming unaffected by my comment. "Anyway, what do you want?"

"I've called on you to make you an offer."

"An offer…?" Andrea seemed interested.

"Yeah. I'm giving you two choices. One, I help you track your killer-slash-boyfriend and you leave me and Olivia alone. Two, you don't accept the first option, and I'm forced to get rid of you by my means."

"I see I don't have much of a choice in this matter?"

"You're smart."

"Wellll…" said Andrea, flirtatiously. "What if I say, 'option two'?"

"Don't act smart."

"Oh, I'm hurt," said Andrea, mock-offendedly.

"Shut up. I'm asking you again. Either I help you track your boyfriend and we get him to confess to the police, or I get rid of you in my own way."

"And what about our…relationship?" she said seriously.

Wha…she had the nerve to say that?! "Excuse me?! What the _heck_ are you talking about?" I spat.

"All right, all right, chill," said Andrea, laughing snidely. "So…can you tell me what your 'own ways' of getting rid of me are?"

"That," I said. "is absolutely none of your business. Now. Tell me."

"Yeah, whatever," said Andrea, grumpily. "Ask away."

"Name?"

"Zack."

"Look, whatever I ask you, you can't give me incomplete info. You need to gimme full details."

"Whatever," said Andrea, again. "It's Zachary Geller."

"Address?"

"33-A, Lawrence Street."

"Lawrence Street?"

"Yeah."

Whoa…I was pretty surprised Andrea had a boyfriend who lives in Lawrence Street. It's one of those run-down, drug-peddlery, alcoholy places, and I thought Andrea was super-rich and stylish and everything. But…well…anyway, at least it didn't surprise me anymore that he got drunk and shot her.

"Okay…" I said. "Good. I would have been very sorry if you hadn't cooperated."

Andrea gave a disdainful snort and disappeared.

Olivia waited for a few moments, then emerged from behind the desk, unconsciously patting her hair (even though it was tied back).

"Uh," she said. "I see that went surprisingly well. Although…" she looked away and took an uncomfortable breath. "I will admit I felt like punching her in the nose when she said 'what about our _relationship_, Jason'!" She did a mock imitation of Andrea.

I laughed, then decided to test the ice again. "So…" I said. "Does that mean…"

Olivia raised her eyebrows. "Pray," she said. "go on with the sentence…?"

I laughed silently and nodded. "So does that mean we're back together?"

"Maybe…" said Olivia, clearly looking like she was suppressing her laughter. "I shall think…"

**Olivia's POV**

He smiled at me slyly, then darted forward and swept me into his arms, tickling me hard.

"Eeee!!" I squealed, trying not to laugh. "Jason…!"

Finally, after several minutes of relentless tickling, he put me down. We were both panting. "You done?" I asked, carefully.

Jason laughed again. "Yeah," he said. "I'm done."

"Whew," I said, stepping back and fixing my hair.

"So," said Jason. "Let's go home."

"Yeah," I said, warmly. "Let's go home."

**Jason's POV**

****

**_Next morning…Saturday_**

Someone nudged me on my back. "Mm," I grunted, rolling in bed.

The nudge came again, this time harder. "Get UP!"

"What…" I opened my eyes with a lot of effort and raised my eyebrows so I could see clearly. "ANDREA?"

"Sshh!" Andrea shushed me. "Keep it down! And wake up! It's already six!"

"Six?!" I stared at her, slack-jawed. "It's SATURDAY, Andrea!"

"So?" she said. "Early to bed, early to rise, keeps a man healthy, wealthy and wise!"

"Yeah, whatever," I sulked. "What do you want, anyway!"

"We're gonna go search out Zack, right?"

"Wow," I said, raising one eyebrow. "And someone was SO reluctant to spill last night."

Andrea rolled her eyes. "Oh, just get out of bed."

"Andrea, no one's gonna be able to help us at six a.m.!"

Andrea looked as if a very elusive fact had suddenly struck her. "R…ight!" she said, looking kind of sheepish. "Fine! Just…not used to not being able to sleep! Well…uh…so then…just buzz me when you're up!" She disappeared without a reply.

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**So…?**


	22. Zack Geller

**OMG, I know you all want to wish me an extremely slow, torturous and painful death for not updating in a MONTH…but I really can't help it. So much has been happening at school and we've been having a ton of tests and then the practice for our school play doesn't leave ANY time for me at all…especially since they've been calling us to school even on Saturday for practice…But _por favor, perdónenme_. Btw, I picked that off Google Translator. LoL.**

**I wanted to tell you guys that on the Mediator forum "Simon Says: It's Award Time", my story _'No puedo vivir sin ti, mi querida'_ has been nominated for 'Best Fluff'!!! So please vote for me :)**

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_****_

_**CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO**_

**ZACK GELLER**

Olivia's POV

I had been looking forward to busting Andrea's boyfriend's chops, but it turns out I'm not allowed to go at all. What a BUMMER. But, duh, I'll squeeze out a detailed report of what happens from Jason.

Jason's POV

Lawrence Street, true to its reputation, looked noticeably shady when I turned into it. I only hoped a BMW wouldn't attract too much attention in this seedy sort of place. Because the attention can never be good.

Andrea was sitting comfortably on the back seat with her legs up. It took a good half hour to reach, and about fifteen minutes of the time went in Lawrence Street itself, what with the road being so terribly bumpy.

Fortunately, we didn't have to spend any time searching for the place, since Andrea knew the address. I parked opposite the door (well, what I guess could _kind of_ be called opposite, since there was barely enough width in the road for there to _be_ an opposite), and we got off the car. The road was extremely dusty and stony and looked like it had last been repaired about a century ago. I guess no one could be blamed – who would want to have any association with this kind of an area?

The corners of the street were dotted with stealthy-looking guys in dirty, ripped and baggy jeans and torn vests. Most of them had heaped upon their necks great amounts of plastic bling necklaces, and were all skinheads. Frankly, I was in no mood to face such people, and quickly hurried to the door and knocked on it. Andrea was standing beside me, arms crossed.

The paint on door looked like it had been red once upon a time, but was so badly chipped and in a terrible condition that I could just barely make out the color. It was coated with dirt. I literally felt repulsed to even touch it.

I waited for five minutes. Finally, the door opened slowly. It was opened by a young Asian girl, her hair in a ruffle. She had wrapped a bed sheet around herself haphazardly and was holding it to her chest. She yawned sleepily before looking at us. Well, theoretically me, since she couldn't see Andrea.

"Yeah?" The girl looked at me, bored. She couldn't have been more than seventeen. She was quite short, about six or seven inches shorter than me, at least.

"Uh, is Zack Geller there?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "Duh. It's his place." She disappeared inside to call him.

"That asshole!" cried Andrea, stomping her foot like a spoiled little girl. "He's already sleeping with other chicks?!"

A minute later, a tall, well-built guy with white-blonde hair came out. He was shirtless and was wearing baggy jeans. He had a pretty good physique.

"Yeah?" he asked in the same sleepy way as the Asian girl.

"Zachary Geller?"

"Yeah, I'm Zack. Who are you?"

"Hey, I'm Jason Slater." I held out my hand, and he shook it.

"What can I do for you?"

"Did you know Andrea Titian?"

Suddenly, all of Zack's sleepiness seemed to disappear in a flash, and he was wide, wide awake. "Yeah, I did. So?" he said quickly.

"Well, I've come here to ask you about how she died."

"Isn't it already in the papers? She got shot by some drunken guy or something, I think,"

"Yes, she did. And as far as I know, that guy was you."

"ME?!"

"Yeah. Don't act. I know it for a fact."

"Listen, you can't just come blundering to my place and accuse me of shooting someone!" said Zack. "How would you know it's me, anyway?"

"That's besides the point."

"Look, just go away!" Zack started to push the door shut. But I put my leg in the way.

"I'm not going away until you hand over yourself to the police."

"WHAT?!"

"You heard me."

"Look, just go away, all right! Leave me alone and don't get yourself into this!"

"You're guilty, aren't you?" I said calmly, catching hold of his upper arm and dragging him out from behind the door. He did try to wriggle out of my grip, but for someone with as good a physical appearance as his, he was surprisingly weak.

"No!" yelled Zack, looking alarmed out of his wits. "Stop it! I haven't done anything! I swear! Leave me alone!"

"I don't think so, mister," I said, not looking at his face, still pulling him out. "You've done something wrong and I'm gonna see to it that you get what you deserve."

"NOOOO!"

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**Well? (For those who don't know, that's code for "Review or I'll wish upon you a very torturous death involving activities like roasting over a slow fire while your toenails are slowly and painfully extricated." Hahaha...aw, you poor honeys, evil PGP is blackmailing ye!! Mwahahahaha)**


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